Choices We Make
by plshade
Summary: Xander has a run in with the Initiative that could break up the gang.
1. Chapter One

Title: Choices We Make  
  
Author: plshade  
  
Rating: PG-14 to a slight R  
  
Spoilers: Everything from the first 3 seasons is fair game  
  
Summary: Xander has a run in with the Initiative that could break up the gang.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Joss, the plot for this story belongs to me.  
  
Feedback: I'd be interested.  
  
Note - thoughts   
  
Chapter One  
  
Where am I?   
  
That was the first question to pop in his mind after waking up with one nasty headache. All he knew was that he was in a small, completely white room but one small thing about his surroundings confused him. The room had three walls and a sliding glass door leading into a hallway.  
  
"Only one way to find any answers." He said to himself as he tried to open the door.  
  
Pain was all he knew the moment his hand pressed against the glass, Then he felt the sensation of flying into the wall in the back of the room. Shaking his head, he sat against the wall looking at the glass in shock. Slowly he stood up and walked to the front of his cell. Tentatively, he reached out to touch the glass and received an electric shock. As he shook his hand to regain feeling, he noticed what looked like a hospital patient ID strap on his wrist. CIVILIAN #36 - ALEXANDER HARRIS was written on it.  
  
Now I remember. I was going to warn Giles and Buffy about a rumor that I had heard down by Willy's. Xander gingerly felt the back of his head remembering the two vampires that hit him from behind when he tried to catch Buffy on one of her patrols. I was about to run when suddenly my body felt like it was on fire. The last thing I remember seeing was..   
  
Xander pounded his head against the wall a couple of times as he realized where he was. "It's just my luck that I would run into Commandos."  
  
Damn. Looking out of the room, but being careful not to touch the glass, he saw that there was a string on cells all along the opposite wall. Probably the same on this side too. I don't see anyone in the cells close to me but I think I hear some movement farther down on my right.   
  
Xander spent the next ten minutes inspecting the area around the front of his cell as he tried to think of a plan to get himself out of here. He couldn't count on Buffy coming to his rescue considering that her new boyfriend was a part of this group of idiots. If Riley was in on this, he wouldn't tell Buffy and his superiors wouldn't tell Riley if he wasn't. Xander grunted at this thought when he noticed a faint, thin line along the walls and floor in front of the 'door'.  
  
"That must be where that electrical field is generated over the glass. Too bad it's not on my side of the door." Xander muttered to himself.  
  
As he seriously thought about his situation, Xander started to feel more confidant about his chances for escaping. From what Spike said happened to him while he was here, I should be scared for my life. The more he thought about his lack of fear, Xander began to realize that was because he felt completely comfortable in this place. If I was still soldier guy from Halloween, I think that I could get to like this place. That is, if you ignore the fact I'm being held against my will. Xander thought with a smirk on his face.  
  
Looking at the camera mounted in the ceiling of the hallway, Xander decided to see if he could get a response. "Will somebody up there tell Riley Finn to put away his G.I. Joes and get his butt down here." There was no response. "Now!" Xander barked as he slammed the side of his fist against the wall.  
  
Xander was about to say something else when suddenly a man dressed like a doctor appeared in front of his cell. Before Xander could say anything, the man pressed a button on a device that he held in his hand and a gas was released from two vents in the center of the ceiling.  
  
Something in the back of his mind told Xander that the gas was probably a knock out agent. Enraged, Xander immediately launched himself at the man outside his cell completely forgetting about the electrical barrier covering the glass door between them and sailed back into the cell.  
  
"Damn.." was all Xander got out before he collapsed from the effects of the gas, the electrical shock and his collision with the back cell wall.  
  
* * *  
  
Professor Walsh calmly watched the scene displayed on the monitor before her. After a couple minutes, she keyed on her mic. "As soon as the air clears, take him down to medical for clean up and the standard tests." Walsh paused for a second and smiled as an idea came to her. "Also run tests for possible usefulness in the 314 project."  
  
Walsh keyed off her mic and relaxed in her chair. "Learning that a team had captured one of the Slayer's friends was possibly the best news I have received since Riley brought that willful girl into the Initiative..."  
  
She went over to her terminal and typed in a password, "Program report, Maggie Walsh." she paused slightly before continuing. "The Slayer's negative influence on Agent Finn is increasing the longer they spend time together. Actually to the point where Agent Finn disregarded a direct order about the Slayer's involvement in a military operation. Agent Finn's feelings for her are starting to affect his loyalties and he has revealed this base to the Slayer's friends. I have come across a possible solution to this problem. How I use that solution depends on the information provided by specialized tests.  
  
* * *  
  
Anya was getting worried. She had spent most of the day trying to find Xander. He wasn't at home. He wasn't at Giles. He wasn't with either Willow or Buffy. Not that the loveless whiner or Riley's milksop would notice. Anya thought, shaking her head.  
  
"Where could he be? I'd check where he works at but I know that today is his day off and Xander wouldn't be there if didn't have to be." Anya mumbled to herself as she walked through a graveyard to the crypt where Giles said Spike was staying. I still can't believe that a male has this kind of effect on me. ME! I was a man hating demon for over a thousand years before I met him. Then, as usual when this internal debate comes up, memories of his kindness and devotion surfaced in her mind's eye, not to mention a certain sexual attraction that never failed to heat her up.  
  
There was also the way he would try to defend his friends from any attack, even her own comments about their characters and then, in a blink of an eye, turn around to defend her from Buffy or Willow.  
  
That was one thing she could not understand about Xander. No matter what subtle or not so subtle hints he received from his friends about staying out of the fighting or how unappreciated he feels. He will always stand up for them, fights for them. Even at the cost of physical harm.  
  
Ayna on more than one occasion had asked Xander why he always put his so- called friend's needs above his own. Each time Xander would shift his head slightly and look at her with shock written on his face. Then Xander would shake his head and chuckle before speaking with a gentle warmth, 'That is what you do for friends.'  
  
Anya continued to mutter to herself as she went to see if Spike knew where her boyfriend was. Arriving at the crypt sometimes uses, Anya shoved the door open causing a scream to erupt from within. After she entered and closed the door, a shadow appeared to cover the ground before the crypt's entrance. The shadow's owner stopped to listen as a string of muffled curses could be heard through the door.  
  
The stranger began a chant in a guttural voice that lasted a couple of minutes. When the chant was finished, a brief flash of purple light surrounded the crypt. When the light dimmed, the shadow, and it's owner, also faded from view.  
  
* * *  
  
Giles was irritated, "What is wrong with that girl?"  
  
Giles picked a book off the floor before continuing, "You would think that after half a year she would learn about common courtesy like knocking before entering." Shaking his head, Giles recalled an event where Anya barged in on a rather intimate scene between himself and Olivia.  
  
"As usual, Anya just had to tell Xander. Then he had to tell Buffy and Willow." Giles spat out sarcastically, remembering Xander's very rude remarks and Buffy's insinuations but what irritated him the most was that Willow did nothing but sit there and laugh.  
  
Giles had just started to organize several stacks of books that he had not got to since after graduation when Anya burst through the door fifteen minutes earlier causing him to knock the dozen books onto the floor. She did not even offer to help-  
  
"Hey Giles."  
  
Once again, startled by someone behind him, Giles knocked the books back onto the floor. "Anya! Why must you-" Giles stopped when he turned around to find a shocked Slayer and not an annoying ex-demon at his front door. "Oh, it's you Buffy."  
  
"Gee Giles, you sure know how to make a girl feel welcome." Buffy said with a small smile.  
  
Giles nodded his head in an apology and motioned with his hand for her to come in and take a seat.  
  
Looking at mess on the floor, Buffy felt the need to comment. "Ya know Giles, your place wouldn't be a mess if you didn't have such wild parties."  
  
Casting a weary glare at Buffy, who was having a hard time trying not to laugh, Giles started to pick up the books once more. "Anya was the initial cause of this when she came in demanding to know where Xander was."  
  
Buffy cringed when Giles stressed the word 'initial'. "Anya's always looking for him. Xander probably got tired of her and decided to lay low."  
  
"Anya said that she has been looking for him all day." Giles pointed out.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "He's probably at work or trying to help Willow now that Oz is gone." she paused before saying, "No, Willow was going to meet with her new Wiccan friend, Tara." Buffy's face scrunched up as she briefly thought about where Xander could be.  
  
Giles decided that now was as good a time as any to ask how her meeting went, "So Buffy, what did you observe while you were in the Initiative's headquarters?"  
  
The Slayer face broke out into a wide smile. "They gave the whole nickel tour of the place. Lets see, I saw where they were dissecting demons, which by the way was very gross, then they showed me their communications center and the cells where they keep the live ones." Buffy turned towards Giles, "Did I mention that I was going to toss my cookies when I saw one demon's shiny, bright green guts as they were being pulled out of him?"  
  
Giles removed his glasses and started to clean them excitedly, "Do you remember what the demon looked like Buffy? Because there are some texts that give weakness based on anatomy. If you could describe in detail-"  
  
"Giles!" Buffy interrupted, "Unless you really want to see what I had for breakfast, don't ask me to tell you what I saw. Please."  
  
Even though Giles was a little disappointed, he let her off the hook. "OK Buffy." I will have to remember to ask Riley about it later.  
  
"Well, getting back to my tour. The next thing I was shown was the armory." Then Buffy's face lit up in awe and preceded to list everything that was in the room.  
  
Giles sighed inwardly as he tuned out what Buffy was telling him, She's acting like she just stepped into heaven. It is obvious that Buffy's idea of a paradise is a room full of weapons. The larger amount of damage that can be inflicted, the better she liked a certain weapon.  
  
Giles remembered what Buffy said when she first saw a crossbow, 'Goodbye stakes. Hello flying fatality.'  
  
"Giles? You in there?" Buffy asked waving her hand in front of his face.  
  
Giles looked at her for a second before answering, "Yes Buffy, I'm fine. I was just remembering something." Giles said with a small smile. "Sorry, what were you saying."  
  
"Well, I was going to ask if that was all you wanted to know because I'm kinda in a hurry..." Buffy left the sentence hanging.  
  
"Go on." Giles motioned towards the door, "And Buffy, should you see Xander, please tell him to explain the concept of knocking to Anya."  
  
"Sure Giles." Buffy said absently as her thoughts were on a certain commando.  
  
* * *  
  
Maggie Walsh was disappointed as she read the lab reports on the Harris kid. He's just a normal boy. I was hoping to be able to use him against the Slayer. she thought to herself and turned to watch from the security monitors as Harris was being escorted back to his cell.  
  
Her eyes widened as she watched the boy, after the soldier started to remove the restraints, methodically punch the soldier in the face and grab the gun from his hands. Harris then, in the same motion after taking the gun, whipped around and slammed the butt of the rifle against the soldier's head, knocking him out cold. All this happened while the doctor's attention was focused on opening the cell  
  
When the doctor turned back, Harris swung the rifle like a baseball bat into the doctor's midsection causing him to collapse on the floor. Walsh watched in shock as Harris calmly looked around him before centering on the security camera. He then climbed onto the gurney he was brought in on and reached for the camera. Before the feed was cut, Maggie heard the boy say in a very quiet voice, "Run."  
  
Professor Walsh stood there for a minute not believing what she just witnessed. Shaking herself in action, Walsh spoke into a nearby microphone. "Security report to cell block C-3, we have an escaped civilian. Approach with caution, he is armed and dangerous." Damn! How long has he been playing possum?  
  
* * *  
  
Ever since Xander woke up, he instinctively knew that his best chance of escape was to act like he was still unconscious. He didn't know exactly how long he was out but from the pain he felt, it was obvious that they had prodded and poked him. Several spots along his arms and neck were sore. Probably needles and maybe an IV. They must have ran tests on me.   
  
On the way back to his cell, as if in response to his need for help, memories long hidden or forgotten started to come back to him from two very distinct times in his life. With the restraints on his wrists and ankles, Xander decided to immersed himself into each memory with the hope of finding something that could help. It was something Xander had never experienced before.  
  
Xander began to see images in his mind in crystal clarity. Images of hunting and running with a pack when he had the hyena in him. With those also came images from what he recognized as the Halloween everyone was possessed by their costumes. He was remembering more from the 'Soldier'. Stuff he didn't experience himself but the memories that were implanted. Xander 'relived' the training and missions the alter ego went through.  
  
With the 'Hyena' memories, Xander mostly remembered the feeling of the hunt, the kill. The instinctual knowledge of being superior to everyone. The one thing that stood out the most were the sharpness of the senses. Especially the sense of hearing and smell. Between his experiences, Xander was feeling more confidant and secure in the knowledge he was receiving. When the doctor opened the cell door and the soldier with them released his restraints, Xander sprung into action.  
  
After disabling the guard and the other man, Xander looked around the room in shock over how easy it was to take out the two men. Must be the old reflexes kicking in. Xander thought as his attention was drawn to the security camera above him. Climbing on to the gurney they carted him in with, Xander reached up and grabbed the camera. Since someone was probably watching right now, Xander looked directly into the lens and said the first thing that came into his mind, "Run."  
  
Xander then yanked the camera on the ceiling severing the connection. Jumping down, Xander proceeded to search the guard. Seconds later he had the soldier's rifle, several ammo clips, and a radio. Xander also grabbed both men's security cards before throwing them into the cell.  
  
Xander started retracing the route that they brought him in. He remembered seeing various rooms on the way back to his cell and he knew one of those rooms should have what he needed. Xander smiled as he came to a door that had a smell of cleaning chemicals. "Time for a new wardrobe." Xander said after entering the room and seeing freshly cleaned uniforms.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where is he?!" Maggie Walsh demanded from the group that surrounded her.  
  
One of the soldiers was about to answer when a loud explosion rocked the complex and all the lights went out. Almost immediately, backup generators kicked in and the emergency lights came on. "What the..."  
  
"Alright people. I want this civilian found and I want him found NOW!" looking behind her, Professor Walsh yelled, "Agent Forrest!"  
  
After issuing orders to his group, Forrest went to her. He watched as Walsh continued to pacing back and forth while watching the security monitors.  
  
"How was he able to escape?" Forrest asked.  
  
Maggie Walsh scowled at him for almost a minute before filling him in on what occurred after the tests. "...and now he's loose inside the compound. Mr. Harris' actions do not follow what was lined out in the profile that you and Agent Finn provided."  
  
"Our reports were as accurate as we could get them." Forrest quickly defended himself, "Most of the time that I interacted with Buffy, her only friend present was Willow Rosenburg." Forrest turned away from Walsh and continued, "Riley was the only one to spend an extended period of time with either Xander Harris or Rupert Giles."  
  
Maggie nodded absently as she replayed the recording of the boy's escape. "Keep in mind, as you watch this recording, Agent Finn's assessment of the young man was as follows; Xander Harris is a normal human with no discernable military or martial arts training. Harris has no ambitions beyond his friends and girlfriend. Highest level of education is high school and research into the paranormal to help his friend Buffy. To be considered a non-threat. Apparently Riley was too infatuated with the Slayer to observe the other members of her group."  
  
Forrest could only agree with his superior as he watched the video on the screen. The way that Harris moved spoke of years of experience and discipline. Clearly his friend had underestimated Harris and was going to pay if Professor Walsh has her way. Forrest's shoulders slumped in resignation about his friend's future and spoke, "Regardless of the current problem, this situation may be a blessing in disguise."  
  
Maggie turned to her subordinate and considered what he said. "True. Once she learns of this, it's possible that a rift will appear between the Slayer and Riley." she replied as she turned and headed away from her work station with Forrest on her heels. "And the possibility of Summers turning against us is a small price to pay for removing her influence on Agent Finn."  
  
* * *  
  
Great! The last thing we need is a Slayer/Commando face-off Xander thought as he moved away from the ventilation grill. He had rested there for the last ten minutes studying the area when he heard the conversation. I better get to Buffy before someone tells her what that old bat wants her to hear.  
  
With that thought Xander worked his way through the main area to the emergency stairs as the last of his surprises went off with several loud thunderclaps.  
  
That should put a dent in their armory. Xander disappeared into the stairwell as the whole complex went dark.  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy steadied herself as she rode out the shaking that was going on under her feet. "Now what?!" Buffy muttered. She was just about to leave the campus to start her nightly patrol when the ground decided to see if it could knock the Slayer on her ass. After everything stopped shaking, a worried Slayer walked away from the building "Screw patrolling. Time to go see Giles."  
  
On the way to the ex-watcher's home, Buffy came across couple of vampires that seemed to be wandering about in a daze. What confused Buffy more was that they looked almost relieved when she dusted them.  
  
As she came to Giles' door, Buffy heard her name called out from behind her. Turning around, the Slayer came face to face with two very winded friends. "Are you ok Buffy?" Willow asked as she tried to catch her breath. Tara immediately sat down on the ground when Willow released her hand from the death grip it was in on the way over.  
  
Before Buffy could answer her friends question, the door in front of her opened suddenly to reveal a slightly ruffled Giles. "I thought I heard voices out here. Now Buffy, I was expecting to see but not the two of you." Giles said pointing the glasses he was cleaning towards the young witches. "Why are you here?"  
  
"W-W-Willow and I were in the middle of a spell a-a-and.." Tara trailed off under Giles' gaze and backed behind Willow.  
  
"What kind of spell were the two of you casting?" Giles asked delivering a very pointed look at Willow. I hope they were not responsible for the tremor earlier.  
  
If Willow was affected by her elder's stare, she didn't show it as the young witch returned his gaze. "Calm down Giles. It was a simple divination spell for the future." Willow said a little forcefully as she felt a need to protect Tara.  
  
Giles' face softened as he watched Tara laid a hand on Willow's shoulder's to calm her friend. Giles still wasn't sure what to make of Willow's new friend but decided to let it go since Buffy and Xander had no problem with her.  
  
Buffy was in shock over how her red-headed friend stood up for herself. She could still remember when Willow was a shy teenager. More at home behind a computer screen than in the center of the spotlight. Giles took a step toward the two girls and said, "I apologize Willow. Tara, I did not mean to frighten you, I was just worried."  
  
Tara gave him a little smile to let him know that she was okay and Willow gave the older man an affectionate hug.  
  
"Giles," Willow started as the ex-watcher led the three girls into his home, "I think something happened during the casting. I'm not sure what, but it and the earthquake started at the same time."  
  
"Can you describe to me what exactly occurred and the type of spell you cast." Giles asked.  
  
"It was just a simple one using a reflective surface and invoking minor spirits." Tara said.  
  
Giles nodded and Willow continued, "We used a bowl of water for the spell and in the beginning we saw flashes of Buffy and Riley first."  
  
Buffy stopped pacing, that she had started upon entering, at the mention of her boyfriend's name. "Was he hurt or-"  
  
"You both were fine." Willow said to calm her friend. "The flashes were just still pictures of you two separately, like in a photo album. Then the ground began to shake and then all the water rose out of the bowl and formed a vague shape of a man siloetted by light coming from the door behind him. And after that, the water..." Willow couldn't finish and just stared at the Slayer.  
  
"The water what, Will?" Buffy asked but her friend didn't answer.  
  
Tara put a hand on Willow's arm, "The water," the blonde witch spoke up, "it fell back into the bowl and completely evaporated but," Tara paused to give a sympathetic look to Willow. "before it was all gone, one more image appeared."  
  
Both Giles and Buffy had a feeling where this was headed.  
  
Tara took a deep breath before confirming their fears, "The last image was of you Buffy. Specifically, your face. You had this look of shock and fear and the left side of your face was covered in blood."  
  
"We couldn't tell if you were alive or not." Willow said weakly with unshed tears in her eyes.  
  
Buffy went over and hugged Willow as the witch tried not to cry. "Willow," Buffy said as she backed away slightly to look at her friend, "we've gone through all this before. Nothing is going to happen to me, I promise you."  
  
Willow smiled weakly at the Slayer. "Your right because we won't let anything happen to you."  
  
"See. I can always count on my friends." Buffy grinned then frowned, "Speaking of friends, where's Xander?"  
  
Everyone noticed for the first time that the boy in question was not there. Normally Xander would be the first one here if there was any chance that Buffy was in trouble. Giles thought.  
  
Willow just shook her head and said, "He's probably home asleep with everything that Anya puts him through."  
  
Disappointment flashed briefly over Giles' face at the casual dismissal of Xander. "Maybe you should check on him. Anya was looking for him earlier today and it did sound like she had been at it for a while."  
  
"It just sounds like Xander is finally getting tired of her." Buffy said. "If you haven't noticed Giles, Anya can be a little demanding."  
  
"A little?" Willow stressed the question with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Buffy smirked at the redhead before turning back to the elder in the room. "I wouldn't worry about it. Unless there is something connected to those quakes. Giles? Any doom and gloom in the forecast?"  
  
"What?" Giles replied as he was ripped from his thoughts.  
  
"I asked you if there were any bad guys to be on the lookout for." The Slayer replied with a smug grin.  
  
Giles gave his charge a withering glare before answering, "No, I have not noticed any reference for this part of the year but I must remind you that prophesies do not have specific references to certain time or physical place by name. I won't know for sure until we do some research."  
  
"Right. So I'll do a quick sweep of the area while you research."  
  
"Oh, and check to see if-" Giles sighed when he noticed that Buffy was gone. "I do hope Xander arrives soon."  
  
"Xander will be here. No matter what Anya might be doing to him, Xander will want to make sure that Buffy's ok." Willow handed a couple books to Tara as she settled on the couch.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ok. What the hell's going on?" Buffy asked as she watched two vampires rolling on the ground in pain after they tried to attack her. "They're acting like Spike when he.."  
  
The Slayer trailed off at that thought and carefully staked the vamps in front of her. These vampires must have escaped from the Initiative. If something has happened, why didn't Riley let me know.  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
Startled out of her thoughts, Buffy turned to the voice automatically knowing it's owner. "Speak of the devil. Hey Riley." Buffy stopped as she realized that her new boyfriend was decked out in his Initiative outfit. "What's going on?"  
  
"Do you know where Harris is?" the commando asked.  
  
"Harris?" Confusion written all over her face. "I'm doing fine, Riley. Thanks for asking. How are you?" Buffy sarcastically asked.  
  
"This isn't the time for joking around, Buffy. Where is he?"  
  
Buffy noticed movement further back behind Riley. "I don't know where he is. Why are you looking for Xander?"  
  
"Why?" Riley paused to consider if he should tell her and decided to lay it all out for her. "Because he set off an explosion in the Initiative and caused lot of damage."  
  
"WHAT!" Buffy starts to giggle nervously.  
  
"Buffy, a lot of lives were lost during his little stunt." Riley grated out.  
  
"Xander wouldn't do something like that on purpose. And unless you guys decided to turn your security off, he couldn't have gotten in there much less do any damage. I mean, come on, this is Xander your talking about."  
  
"I have seen the footage, Buffy. He was inside the Initiative and caused the release of dozens of hostiles." Riley said impatiently as he looked around the area.  
  
A voice filtered down from the tree that Buffy was leaning against. "Whatever footage you saw Riley, was edited for your viewing pleasure by none other than Maggie Walsh. You've been lied to."  
  
Buffy jumped away from the tree in surprise, "Xander?!"  
  
Riley brought his blaster up and aimed it at where he heard the voice coming from the tree. "Get down here now Harris!"  
  
"Let's see you make me." Xander's childish response seemed only to infuriate Riley more.  
  
"Fine." Riley aimed his gun and fired.  
  
"XANDER!" Buffy screamed his name as the electrical blast tore through the branches and leaves. "Xander, are you okay?" When she didn't get a response, Buffy turned onto her boyfriend.  
  
Before Riley could say anything, his gun was wrenched from his grasp and thrown several feet away and a very upset Slayer held him up against a headstone. "Buffy?"  
  
"What do think you are doing?" Buffy cried.  
  
"I-I.." Riley trailed off as Buffy's expression dared him to say that he was following orders.  
  
"Your friend is dangerous, Buffy. He has to be taken in." Forrest said coming up behind her.  
  
"Harris is here, spread your men out and find him." Riley said and Forrest half-turned to his group and motioned for his men to break into two groups and search the area.  
  
"He is to be treated as a HST. Fire first then ask questions." Forrest told his men as he turned his attention back on the Slayer. "If you interfere, I will put you down."  
  
"You guys are not gonna fire-" Buffy was interrupted when the trees behind the two commandos lit up with multiple taser blasts. Several shots were fired before the night became quiet.  
  
"Go home Riley." Xander said as he appeared from behind one of the trees. "Your friends lied to you about what happened. So get your facts straight before you get hurt."  
  
Buffy watched alien emotions crawl over her friend's face. Emotions that she has never seen in Xander's expression, scared her. Determination, acceptance and peace blended a single look that screamed 'confidence'. "Xander-"  
  
As his name left her lips, Forrest sprang forward surprising her with how quick he was. Buffy was more shocked when she watched as Xander stepped to the side at the last minute, grabbed the larger man by the back of his head and shoved Forrest face first into the tree that Xander was standing in front of.  
  
Riley tackled Xander from behind and managed to knock the younger man to the ground. Riley got to his feet and kicked Xander in the ribs as he was getting up.  
  
Xander rolled to where Forrest was slumped against the tree and picked the unconscious soldier's blaster. Turning, Xander leveled the gun at Riley and said, "This is getting old fast. I'm only gonna say this one more time. Your boss lied to you. I was captured and brought to your base. Then I was put through God knows how many tests. Now I'm being hunted like a dog just because I don't like to be held against my will."  
  
"That's a lie. I saw the video of you assaulting several guards and a doctor before the system went down and read the personal report of the doctor that you left for dead." Riley spat at Xander. "Buffy," Riley shot a look at her. "the damage he caused let thirty-seven hostiles loose in the compound. A lot of people died by the time we had the demons under control."  
  
"I suppose that it's too much to hope that Walsh was one of them."  
  
"Bastard!!" The enraged commando charged at Xander. He managed to back out of the way only to find Buffy behind him. The Slayer wrapped her arms around Xander's waist effectively pinning his arms to his sides.  
  
"Buffy, let go of me." Xander grated out.  
  
"Don't let him go Buffy. I can have a team here in minutes." Riley pulled out a radio.  
  
"Buffy-" Xander started before Buffy cut him off.  
  
"No Xander. Riley believes that you're a bad guy so we need to go back to the Initiative and find out what happened." Buffy then applied pressure to force Xander to the ground.  
  
Xander twisted his head around to look at Buffy. "I told you what happened and I did my best to get here and warn you that Riley was going to be lied to by his Army buddies. I'm trying to save you a lot of grief when you learn the truth of what happened." Xander watched the side of her face that he could see, harden. "So you gonna believe 'beef stick' over me?"  
  
"Xander, Riley is-"  
  
"Fine!" Xander quickly crouched to the ground catching Buffy by surprise and when her grip loosened, Xander shot up fast knocking the back of his head against Buffy's face. Reeling from the impact, Buffy staggered backwards into a tree which she hit with the back of her head. Both blows dazed the Slayer and she collapsed at the base of the tree.  
  
* * *  
  
All Buffy could do was watch as Riley and Xander exchanged insults before her boyfriend charged the younger man. Riley was enraged over Xander knocking her down and Buffy watched as he made the simple mistake of letting his emotions blind him. Buffy found that she was too dazed to concentrate on anything but the scene taking place before her eyes.  
  
She watched as Xander blocked the first two punches before the third connected in his side. Xander responded with a leg sweep that brought Riley to the ground. Both combatants got to their feet and traded more insults that resulted in Riley pulling out a knife.  
  
Xander, with his back facing Buffy, dodged a swipe and effectively disarmed Riley when he thrust the knife at him. Xander had grabbed the commando's wrist with both hands and twisted his entire arm while keeping it straight. This brought Riley to his knees and he dropped the knife. The younger man then drove his foot into Riley's face and watched as his opponent collapsed on the ground.  
  
Buffy was in shock. She couldn't believe that Xander had just put down several military trained soldiers including Riley. What is going on? "Xander.."  
  
At the sound of his name, the person in question turned away from the fallen soldier to look at her. He stood there just looking at her and then Xander calmly walked to the Slayer and squatted in front of her. Buffy's mouth became dry as she saw the emotionless look in the face of her best friend and barely heard her own voice as she asked him why.  
  
They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Buffy found herself thinking as she saw emotions that never touched Xander's face wage a war in his eyes. She clearly saw disbelief, anger and disappointment mixed with what she could only describe as hurt. Unable to look at his face, Buffy lowered her eyes and saw that Xander's shirt was cut from his left shoulder to his right hip and blood slowly flowing from the same cut on his chest.  
  
Xander glanced at his chest and brought his hand to feel the edges of the long wound. Buffy finally tore her eyes from Xander's chest and for the first time in four years, her friend's face was unreadable.  
  
Slowly Xander cupped Buffy's face with both hands and spoke with a quiet and calm voice. "For the choices you've made, this will be the last time I shed blood for you." Xander let his hands fall from her face and paused a second before saying. "Slayer." With that Xander stood up, took one more look around and walked away.  
  
* * *  
  
Willow couldn't wait for her friend any longer. Buffy had only left a short while ago but her feelings of dread increased steadily after her friend left. She noticed that Tara glanced at the front door nervously every couple of minutes. "Giles, I don't like this."  
  
"Don't like what?"  
  
"Something feels wrong. I don't know what but I don't like it." Tara nodded vigorously in agreement with Willow.  
  
Giles looked at the two witches and then at the clock. Where is Xander? Giles thought and not for the first time. He too was uneasy at the absence of Buffy. "Willow, did Buffy tell you which cemeteries she was going to check?" Willow answered yes as she and Tara got ready to leave and followed Giles out the door.  
  
* * *  
  
All three walked in silence as their thoughts were centered on everything that has happened tonight. Their fears grew as they walked through two cemeteries without incident and had entered the next one when faint sounds of electrical discharges could be heard in the distance.  
  
Willow was the first to take off in that direction followed by Tara leaving Giles to curse about impatient young people. Despite being in better shape than most men his age, the two girls managed to stay a good twenty feet ahead of him.  
  
A couple of minutes passed as he did his best to keep up with the young witches before he noticed that they had stopped in front of a small clearing. Unable to get the girls' attention, Giles carefully walked up behind them to see what they were staring at. What he saw was from the very heart of several of his nightmares. Separate from his shock as a father figure, the Watcher in him took stock of the scene on display before him.  
  
Looking around slowly, Giles saw that there were several unconscious Initiative soldiers here including Riley Finn but his breath caught when his eyes settled on his Slayer. Slowly he walked past the frozen witches towards his young charge.  
  
As Giles walked closer, he silently sobbed when her face could be seen. The vision. Half her face covered in blood. Giles remembered Tara's words as he bent down in front of the young woman. He could see her chest rise and fall with each breath and sent thanks to whatever higher power that watched over Slayers "Buffy?"  
  
When he didn't get a response, Giles called her name twice more before her eyes focused on his face. The sheer disbelief in her expression caused the hairs on the back of his head to rise. Giles has never, in the time that he has known her, seen Buffy look this lost. The closest would be when Angel turned.  
  
"Buffy," Giles started off softly, "what has happened? Who did this?"  
  
Buffy appeared confused by the question. She looked around her taking in the Initiative and Riley on the ground. Her friends were standing in front of her but something was missing. Her mind just couldn't wrap a coherent thought around Giles' question. What happened here? Something to do with my friends. To do with one of my friends? Somebody in trouble. Who? Everyone is here. Riley, Giles, Willow, Tara, Xa- Her eyes started to mist over as she remembered what occurred. Buffy looked up to face Giles and, with tears falling down her cheeks, weakly said, "Xander."  
  
* * *  
  
Xander walked home after he left Buffy. Having decided that staying there was just asking for trouble, he packed some things into a gym bag and took off. His first thought was to find Anya and let her know that he was alright. Then he had to find some place to bunker down.  
  
That was almost two hours ago and he still hasn't found his girlfriend. Most of his time was spent avoiding places the military goons knew that he would go to. So that made the Bronze, Anya's place and Giles' off-limits and Xander was able to rule them out with a couple of simple phone calls. There was no answer at either Giles' or Anya's home and no one fit his girlfriend's description at the Bronze.  
  
Xander was beginning to worry. He had faith that of everybody, Anya would be the one searching for him. The only one it appears. That thought lodged a heavy ache in his heart. Xander couldn't stop a few tears from falling. No! Buffy might have worn out her welcome but I'll give Giles and Willow the chance to show me where they stand.   
  
Xander spent the better part of the early morning before sunrise searching for Anya while avoiding the military and the gang. Not for the first time, Xander was afraid that the Initiative had her. With that thought, Xander made his way to the crypt that Spike uses.  
  
Xander walked up to the crypt door but paused before opening. The reason was because noises could be heard from inside. Thinking that Spike could be up to something, Xander slowly opened the door and there was a flash of purple light. What was that... That thought flew from his mind as what he was seeing registered in his mind. Before him, locked together in the throes of sex, was Spike and ... Anya.  
  
Xander could only stare in shock as his girlfriend cried out and tried to scrambled off of the vampire. He was barely aware of Anya walking up to him as Spike grabbed a cigarette. Mostly his mind was numb as his heart tried to cope with everything that has happened to him in the last dozen or so hours.  
  
Anya tried to get Xander's attention so she could explain what had happened, to make him listen to her but he ignored her. When Anya touched his arm, Xander's head turned to her and she could only watch as expressions of anger and disgust crossed his face before settling on sheer apathy. Xander then grabbed her wrist and roughly pushed her away from him. Anya fell on the floor a few feet from the man that she loved. "Xander, I-"  
  
"Don't bother Pet." Spike interrupted her, "He's the one that was gone. You said it yourself that you were looking for him for most of yesterday." Then he chuckled and added, "Personaly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was seeing someone else." As busy as he was trying to find his lighter, Spike didn't realize until the last second that Xander had quietly walked up behind him and...  
  
* * * 


	2. Chapter Two

Spoilers: Everything is fair game  
  
Disclaimer: Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did. Everything belongs to Joss.  
  
Note - thoughts   
  
Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Two  
  
This seemed like a nightmare to Anya. Here she had betrayed Xander without a second thought by having sex with Spike. She betrayed the one man that had invoked feelings in her that she has not felt in over a thousand years.  
  
And for no reason at all, she threw that away to have sex with another person. She didn't understand why she did it. Just after a couple of minutes after walking in, Anya felt like she couldn't get enough of him. She just had to have him and no one was going to stop her.  
  
As a Vengeance daemon, she punished men that did what she did.  
  
"Xander I-" Anya wanted to explain.  
  
"Don't bother Pet." Spike interrupted her, "He's the one that was gone. You said it yourself that you were looking for him for most of yesterday."  
  
Anya felt a wave of irritation for the vampire. That emotion changed to revulsion when she remembered what she had been doing. What was I thinking? Why did I want to have sex with Spike? Anya couldn't believe that she wanted Spike earlier but then an even stranger thought surfaced. Why don't I feel that way now?   
  
"Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if he was seeing someone else."  
  
Anya's internal battle with her emotions kept her from hearing Spike. But a scream that erupted from the vampire got her attention. Spike was on the ground screaming and she grew alarmed when she noticed that smoke was rising from his head and shoulders.  
  
Xander was passively standing above the frantic vampire. In his hand was the small bottle. Xander always carried holy water in that. She felt shock enter her system. He must have dumped the entire bottle on Spike's head.   
  
Xander calmly watched the vampire's skin bubble and hiss from the contact with the blessed liquid. Then Xander pulled out another bottle. "I have to tell you something Spike, that burn looks pretty bad. You might want to get that checked out."  
  
Xander opened the second bottle and slowly poured the holy water onto Spike's unprotected back.  
  
"ARRGGG!!!"  
  
"Ooops, I'm sorry Spike. Did that hurt?" Xander taunted.  
  
"Bugger. You're going to pay for this." Spike growled.  
  
"I seriously doubt that." Xander kicked the vampire in the ribs. "You can't hurt a fly without getting a killer migraine. It must suck to be you."  
  
Despite the pain, Spike staggered to his feet and tried to attack Xander. "Damn!!" Spike had to brace himself against the wall as pain exploded like fireworks in his head.  
  
Xander crossed his arms and watched the vampire with a detached expression. "What you need to do Spike is leave Sunnydale."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Exactly what I said O Impotent One. Or do I have to use smaller words because the peroxide in your hair has finally destroyed what little brains you had before you were turned?" Xander asked. "You're pathetic. No wonder Drusilla left you."  
  
Hearing that, Spike charged at Xander. Spike wanted nothing more than to rip the heart out of the boy. Then his chip kick in.  
  
Anya watched as Xander stayed where he was and watched the vampire stumble and fall on his face. Spike's back and head was starting to heal but he was still disoriented from all the pain.  
  
Xander crouched down by Spike and grabbed him by the hair. "Spike. Now I'm gonna say this one time. After I leave here today, I will give you less than a week to leave Sunnydale. If you are still here, I will stake you."  
  
Spike spit in Xander's face. "Please like you could do anything. Buffy and her Watcher wouldn't let you do anything to me." Spike sneered. "I'm helpless now."  
  
Xander's face hardened. Still holding the vampire by the hair, Xander proceeded to slam Spike, face first, into the rough concrete floor of the crypt.  
  
Xander did this five times.  
  
Each time, Xander put as much of his weight as he could behind each blow.  
  
Anya felt sick. From where she was sitting on the floor, she could see Spike's face as Xander lifted his head one more time. Both eyes were swollen shut with blood flowing from one eye. His nose was shattered and pushed inward. Skin hung loosely from his forehead and cheeks.  
  
Xander nodded to himself and let Spike's head fall to the floor. He then stepped behind Spike. Reaching down, Xander grasped Spike's left hand in both of his then placed a foot on the vampire's elbow. With a hard jerk, Xander pulled Spike's arm backward effectively breaking it. Spike screamed out once before he collapsed from the pain. When Xander did this to the other arm, Anya had to turn away.  
  
Anya could remember things she caused, or did herself, to people when she was a daemon. But to see this man, the man who she was starting to have strong feelings for, do this made her sick.  
  
Anya just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.  
  
"Xander, please..." Anya watched as Xander's body trembled in anger. Then his shoulders slumped and his breathing slowed. When he finally turned to face her, Anya shrank from the look on his face.  
  
There was no anger. No hatred. At most Anya thought she saw something like resigned acceptance but even that disappeared also. There was no emotion in his eyes when he looked at her.  
  
She knew in her heart that whatever they were starting to have before is gone.  
  
Xander turned away from her and surveyed the room. Anya watched as he stopped looking and disappeared from her view as he walked down into the lower chamber of the crypt.  
  
Anya didn't know how long she sat there. Her life with Xander had come crashing down around her all because she couldn't stop herself from having sex with Spike. But I love Xander. Anya's eyes went wide at that thought.  
  
THUMP  
  
Anya, startled out of her thoughts, looked at the bag of blood that was dropped a couple of feet from Spike. Blood was slowly leaking from a small tear near the top of the bag.  
  
THUMP  
  
Another bag landed next to it. Anya raised her head and found Xander standing next to a table that had several blood bags on it. Xander went to get Spike's blood supply. But why? Xander was standing between the table and Anya, blocking her from seeing what he was doing.  
  
THUMP  
  
Xander had tossed another bag over his shoulder. The bag landed about a foot away from the other two. This bag was also leaking. Xander continued in silence and soon all the bags were on the floor. A small pool of blood formed around each bag. Anya heard a deep groan.  
  
The smell of blood was starting to wake Spike up.  
  
Walking over, Xander grabbed the vampire by the ankles. Then he dragged Spike into the far corner, a good couple feet away from the bags. Xander left Spike in the corner and proceeded to gather up some of the clothes that littered the floor and shoved them at Anya.  
  
"I would get dressed if I were you."  
  
That statement reminded her of the blanket she was covered with. "Xander -"  
  
"Stop." Xander voice was harsh as he held out his hand, palm up, at her. "Just put your clothes on." Xander waited as she finished dressing and then pushed her towards the door.  
  
"What about Spike. We can't.." Anya couldn't finish under the glare that appeared on Xander's face. "What are you going to do to him?"  
  
"I'm not gonna do anything more than I already have." With a small, evil smirk, he continued. "Of course he's going to need to drink some blood to help heal himself." Anya felt a shiver go up her spine. "It's just too bad that I poured some Holy water into each bag of blood that he had."  
  
Anya was appalled. "Xander, you can't do this." Anya noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Spike had started crawling slowly towards the blood. They could hear the bones in Spike's arms moving back into place as he healed.  
  
Xander coldly stared at her. "You lost any say in what I can or can't do the minute you decided to sleep with Spike."  
  
"Xander... I'm sorry."  
  
Xander shook with barely suppressed anger but less than a heartbeat later he visibly relaxed. "Anya, I honestly don't care anymore." He paused and looked her in the eye. "You brought this onto yourself."  
  
With that, Xander pushed Anya out the door. He was about to close the door after him but Xander paused and then smiled as he looked back into the crypt. Leaving the door open, Xander stepped back from it letting Anya see that the sunlight landed on most of the bags.  
  
Xander turned back to her. The feral look on his face scared her. "Now... what am I going to do to you?"  
  
Being a daemon for more than a thousand years, Anya has seen many beings that had tried to intimidate her. Even now as a human very little fazed her but the look in Xander's eyes scared her so much that she was unconsciously backing away from him.  
  
The last time she felt this scared was when they found out what the Mayor was planning for graduation. She remembered wanting Xander to run away with her but Xander wouldn't give in to her fears. He would not abandon his friends.  
  
"Now for you, I need to get some rope, a little barb wire, and..." Xander scratched his head in thought. "Oh yeah," He brought his face close to Anya's. "Bunny rabbits."  
  
Before she even realized it. Anya found herself running through the cemetery entrance, gasping for breath.  
  
* * *  
  
Xander watched as Anya ran away from him. Even with the anger that threatened to burn him from the inside out, he still felt some regret at scaring Anya like that but even that emotion evaporated fast.  
  
Xander leaned against the crypt, barely holding back the emotions that threatened to leave him curled up into a ball, crying. He knew that the main reason for scaring her was to make her leave before he did get violent. He didn't want to think that he would hit her but he didn't trust himself not to with the way he was feeling.  
  
A scream sounded out from behind him. That sent a shock through his system which enabled Xander to take control of his emotions and he looked into the crypt. The vampire was holding his newly healed, but freshly burned, arm to his chest.  
  
"Hey Spike."  
  
Spike's head shot up at the voice. His visage was more demonic than normal.  
  
"Awww. Did the Big Bad burn himself trying to get to the bags of blood?"  
  
Spike snarled at Xander but stayed well away from the sunlight.  
  
To Xander, it looked like the vampire barely recognized him. Must be the blood lust. Hopefully he will get so crazed that he will end up killing himself from trying to get the blood. Xander chuckled. Oh course that blood will hurt him just as bad.   
  
Xander felt his anger swell again. Two of the four women that have come to mean the most to him in his life, have hurt him within the last twenty four hours.  
  
He wasn't blind about Joyce Summers. Xander knew that when push came to shove that she would side with her daughter. Xander couldn't blame her at all. And as much as he wants to believe that he could count on his oldest friend, in his mind Xander could see Willow choosing the Slayer over him.  
  
Xander felt his heart start to harden against the people who he considered his family.  
  
His mind set changed drastically as he did what he has always did with every bad event that has happened to him over the years, he put it behind him.  
  
Then he found himself starting to think about the various weaknesses of the group that he had noticed over the years. Calculating threat ratios, possible forms of attacks that the Slayer knew and ways to avoid them, scenarios to evade electronic tracking that Willow or the Initiative might try for that matter. Plans and solutions for surviving outside the group.  
  
What actually scared him was how easily he did this.  
  
"Aaaiieee!"  
  
Xander focused back on the scene before him. Spike was slowly dragging one of the bags out of the sunlight. Both arms were badly burnt but that didn't matter to the vampire as his hunger for blood had overridden his survival instincts.  
  
Xander turned away as Spike brought the bag to his mouth. Walking away from the crypt, Xander could hear a blood curdling scream erupt from within the crypt.  
  
Xander laughed silently at thought of Spike drinking 'spiked' blood.  
  
Sobering up I gotta find a place to stay for a while. Just in case that daemon I overheard was right. Xander was distracted from his thoughts by two joggers outside the cemetery that was running past as fast as they could. "Hey shut up Spike, your scaring away the tourists."  
  
Xander left the graveyard with a small smile on his face.  
  
* * *  
  
It has been a long day for everyone.  
  
Shortly after they had found Buffy, a group of Initiative soldiers came into the clearing. They recognized the group immediately and aimed their weapons at them. Without a word they started to carry off their unconscious comrades.  
  
Buffy tried to stop them from taking Riley but then she noticed that several weapons were aimed at her Willow and Tara. That threat stopped Buffy in her tracks. Satisfied that she wouldn't trouble him further, the person in charge spoke briefly into his radio and listened to a muffled reply. His gaze drifted over the group before speaking again. He shut his radio and swept his eyes over the area once more before signaling his men to return to base.  
  
After they were left alone, Buffy slumped to the ground. Except for uttering Xander's name shortly after they arrived, Buffy had not told them what had happened. And despite her concern for Xander, Willow did her best to comfort Buffy. Giles steered the girls to his home so Buffy could get cleaned up.  
  
On the way there, Buffy, between bouts of anger and sadness, relayed what had happened. Giles noticed that by the time they reached their destination, Willow and Tara had dropped back several feet from Buffy, silently arguing.  
  
Giles let the girls in and directed Buffy to the bathroom to wash her face. Looking at the girls, he could almost feel a wall start to form between Willow and Buffy. He was about to attempt to talk to Willow when there was a knock at his door.  
  
Upon opening the door, Giles was greeted by two uniformed police officers. They announced that they were looking for a Rupert Giles. When Giles identified himself, they asked him to accompany them to the police station for questioning. The police insisted the others come too when they learned of the girls' identities.  
  
That was a couple of hours ago.  
  
Currently they were being questioned by the Sunnydale's Finest about Alexander L. Harris.  
  
The official story was that Xander was reported to have snuck onto the local army base for some unknown reason. The military was conducting their own investigation into this and had no comment on what might be missing. Although it was speculated that maybe he was looking to steal weapons either to use in some crime or to sell. There was no concrete evidence, just what appeared to be second hand information.  
  
The one thing that was clear to everyone was that Xander and Ayna were gone. No one knew where they disappeared to.  
  
Each one was questioned about Xander and what they thought their friend might do. Did he have a history of violence? Was his girlfriend likely to help him? If not, would Xander try to scare the girl into silence or worse?  
  
What was causing Giles, Buffy and Willow some concern was the reason for the questions. It seemed that most of the details that were revealed to them were what Xander did to acquire the rocket launcher when the Judge was assembled. The only real difference was that Anya was said to be there with Xander instead of Cordelia.  
  
Willow was growing desperate to talk to Xander. She wanted to find him before the Initiative or the police did. She did not want to be here and she especially did not want to be around Buffy right now.  
  
As much as she loved Buffy, Willow was hurt by her actions. Even though she had sided with the blonde against her oldest friend from time to time over the last year, she couldn't picture herself believing someone she barely knew over Xander. This served only to heighten the tension that started to develop between Buffy and Willow.  
  
Xander's parents were also brought in for questioning along with Buffy's mother and Willow's parents. The girls' parents adamantly defended Xander but the surprise came from the boy's. His mother simply collapsed, crying while his father told the police that Xander had been nothing but a problem with all the trouble that he and the 'Summers girl' got into during high school and offered any help he could.  
  
This shocked the rest of them into silence as Xander's parents were escorted home. Eventually all of them were released and everyone but Willow's parents made their way to Giles' home to discuss what they were going to do.  
  
* * *  
  
A dark-haired man stepped out from around the corner of the police station. The man shielded his eyes from the late afternoon sun to watch a small group of people exit the building and walk into the parking lot.  
  
The man pulled out a phone from inside his jacket and punched in a few numbers. He waited for the line to be picked up on the other end and then said. "It's done."  
  
He listened for a moment. "I understand." The man put the phone back inside his jacket and walked into the police station. Once inside, the man walked up to the clerk and asked to see the commanding officer.  
  
* * *  
  
After letting the everyone in, Giles told the girls to sit down while he made some tea. With that said, Tara and Willow sat on the couch and Buffy took the chair.  
  
Satisfied, Giles stepped into his kitchen with Joyce right behind him as she had her own questions that Buffy was unwilling or unable to answer. "Rupert," She said quietly, hoping the girls wouldn't notice. "What exactly is going on with Xander?"  
  
"Well for starters, what they said at the police station was, for the most part, a lie." Giles said.  
  
"Well that goes without saying." She said impatiently. "I was told that someone called in an anonymous tip."  
  
"That is what I found out too but the details of..." Giles trailed off under Joyce's gaze. "Joyce, I should tell you that some of the details of what the police said did actually occur."  
  
"I know."  
  
Joyce could see the confusion in his face and held up her hand to stop Giles from asking. "One night during her senior year, Buffy and I had a long talk about some of the things that have happened before and after we had to move here. Buffy told me the short version of why, and how, Xander gave her a rocket launcher for a birthday gift." Joyce braced herself for the answer to her next question. "Now, what really happened to him?"  
  
Giles turned to her and he leaned back against the counter. "From what Buffy told us earlier is that, according to Xander, the Initiative had captured him. They had ran tests on him and then he escaped."  
  
Joyce gasped, "You think that Riley had -"  
  
"No." Giles interrupted her. "Riley supposedly was not aware of Xander's capture and apparently Xander was trying to warn her about the situation when Riley showed up with several of his men."  
  
"What did Riley tell her?"  
  
"That Xander got into the base somehow and set off an explosion. Do you remember the tremors from last night?" Joyce nodded. "According to Riley, Xander was responsible and because of that, some of the daemons that were being held there managed to get free and people were killed."  
  
"That's terrible. So then Buffy was caught between Xander and Riley and had to choose."  
  
"Yes and she chose Riley." Giles agreed. "And from the way she talked, Xander may have chosen to end their friendship."  
  
"Would Xander really leave her?" Joyce didn't want to believe that the devotion that the young man has displayed for her daughter in the past would disappear.  
  
"Under normal circumstances I would say no but now?" Giles sighed. "Either way, I doubt Xander will show himself anytime soon especially since the police are now involved too instead of just the Initiative."  
  
"Who do you think made up that story?"  
  
"Maybe Xander did to keep everyone confused or it's possible that someone in Riley's group had heard about Xander's past through Buffy and called in a tip, thinking that the police could help." He stopped to think then Giles shook his head in what little mirth he could feel right now. "I do not know what higher power is looking out for Xander but involving the Sunnydale Police was a fortunate stroke of good luck for us. Their gross incompetence will go in his favor."  
  
"True, the Sunnydale Police Department couldn't walk around a tree without getting lost but.." Joyce turned to look at her daughter. "Rupert, what can we do for Xander?"  
  
"I'm not sure that there is anything we can do about Xander at the moment."  
  
Giles paused to look out at the girls. "My concern right now though is for Willow." At Joyce's confused look, Giles elaborated. "Between Oz leaving not too long ago and this incident with Xander, I believe that Willow is very afraid of losing Xander and the only one she can lash out at will be Buffy."  
  
* * *  
  
Maggie Walsh was furious. She had just spoke with or rather listened to her superiors who were not happy with the possible exposure of the project. Without turning around, she shouted, "Who the hell decided to contact the police!"  
  
"Well?!"  
  
Forrest stepped forward. "Ma'am. The information did not come from this base."  
  
"No?" Walsh voiced her confusion. "Then how did the police get a detailed description of Mr. Harris or where did this story about a weapons theft at the Army base come from?"  
  
"That actually did happen." Riley said.  
  
"What?!?" Walsh marched up to Riley. "You're saying that an incident like that happened and you did NOT include this little tidbit of information in the report you made about Ms. Summers' friends."  
  
Forrest swore softly and Riley glared at him.  
  
"Agent Finn!" Walsh barked out.  
  
Riley snapped to attention.  
  
"I will not ask again."  
  
"Ma'am! I was told that a couple of years ago that two vampires brought a daemon to Sunnydale. This daemon could kill with a touch and no weapons that were made by man could kill it."  
  
Walsh waited impatiently for Riley to get to the point.  
  
"From what Buffy told me, Xander trespassed onto the army base and stole a rocket launcher to be used against the daemon."  
  
"But you said that no man-made weapon could kill the daemon." Forrest interrupted.  
  
"They did not kill it. Basically they blew it apart and picked up the pieces."  
  
"Where are the pieces now?" Walsh asked.  
  
"Buffy never told me."  
  
Maggie Walsh stared at her subordinate. "Agent Finn, you will report to my office ASAP and tell me everything that you have heard in that group. Everything," She stressed. "no matter how small or insignificant you might think it is."  
  
Without waiting for a response, she nodded to Agent Forrest and then turned her back on the soldiers and marched to her office with a slightly slower Riley Finn following her.  
  
Forrest faced to the rest of the soldiers. "Okay men, from now on the capture of Mr. Harris takes priority but not at the expense of exposure. Gathering further intel on him or the others in the Slayer's group is secondary. We will split into groups of..." He continued to issue orders all the while in the back of his mind, Forrest was worried. Not for himself but he had a bad feeling about Xander Harris.  
  
* * *  
  
The scene that was taking place in his home was not something that Giles thought he would ever see. Buffy was sitting in a chair while Willow circled her like a lioness waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness.  
  
"How could you Buffy?"  
  
She knew that question was coming and could feel the anger in Willow's voice. "Willow I.." Buffy found that she didn't know how to answer. Inside she was torn between Xander, who has become one of her best friends, and Riley, who she was starting to get emotionally attached to.  
  
She didn't want to believe that Riley would lie to her but if Xander is right then it was Riley who was lied to. But if Xander is lying.. She didn't want to complete that thought. But there was one thing that the Slayer in her wouldn't let go of though. The memory of the fight between Xander and the commandos kept replaying in her mind.  
  
"What Buffy?" Willow asked, snapping Buffy out of her internal struggle. "What made you treat Xander like that? Are you too dependant on Riley, a guy you barely know, that you can just ignore anything Xander tells you?"  
  
Buffy ignored her friend's tirade. "There has to be something wrong with Xander."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Willow asked.  
  
"There is no way Xander could beat Riley." Buffy said to herself.  
  
"I can't-" Willow was stunned.  
  
"Willow," Buffy voice was firm. "There is no way Xander could beat military trained soldiers. Not unless something has changed him."  
  
"So now there has to be something wrong with Xander, is that right? He could never win in a fight." Willow said sarcastically  
  
"You weren't there Willow. You didn't see him-"  
  
"We have never seen him fight Buffy." Willow stated. "Sure we've seen him jump into a fight and get knocked back out again but we have never actually watched him fight."  
  
"Will-"  
  
"No! There is no way I'm going to let you shift the blame from you to Xander just because you don't want to face what you did." Willow seethed.  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
Both girls turned to a very irate Rupert Giles. Joyce emerged from behind him and went to her daughter. "Now girls," Giles voice was calm again. "we don't need to start fighting amongst ourselves."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No Willow." Giles waited for Willow to settle down. "Now we know that Xander was in the Initiative. What we need to do is find out why."  
  
"And find out what's wrong with him." Buffy added.  
  
"Buffy.." Giles tried to intervene.  
  
"No Giles. None of you were there. Xander wasn't acting like himself." Buffy tried to explain.  
  
"I probably wouldn't act like myself too if my best friend turned on me."  
  
"Will, I-"  
  
"No." Willow cut her off. She gathered her things and started for the door leaving a very quiet Tara in her wake.  
  
"Willow." The redhead paused next to Giles. "We do not need this. Unraveling Xander's situation should take precedence."  
  
Willow stared at the older man silently before turning to the door. "Willow?"  
  
The Wiccan stopped but didn't turn around. "What?"  
  
"May I ask what are you are planning to do?"  
  
"I'm gonna find Xander and - " Willow stopped after opening the door to find a young woman who looked like she just lost everything that mattered to her. Willow stared at the girl's sad, tear streaked face a few seconds before recognizing her. "Anya?"  
  
Willow barely managed to catch Anya as she fainted.  
  
* * *  
  
Right now Xander was very glad that he decided to stash some clothes and money, among other items, all over Sunnydale. He didn't understand at the time why he was doing it, only that it was like this need to be prepared for any emergency.  
  
Currently Xander was in a small storage room pulling clothes from a large wooden chest. Xander pulled his shirt off and inspected the bandages on his chest. They had come loose during his confrontation with Spike and Anya. Anya.. Xander ruthlessly buried the feelings of betrayal he felt and changed his clothes.  
  
He packed everything back into the chest. Xander then pushed it back and covered it under a number of boxes. After looking around the room to make sure that everything appeared undisturbed, Xander exited the room.  
  
"Is everything alright, my son?"  
  
Startled, Xander turned to face an older man. "No Father," Xander said after a moment. His eyes glazed over slightly before tuning back to the conversation "but I do want to thank you for the use of your storage room."  
  
"You are welcome as always Xander but.." He paused briefly, as if in thought "I am wondering as to why you are so quiet today."  
  
Xander shrugged. "It's a long story, Father. One that I really don't want to get into right now. Besides," a small smile tugged at Xander's lips. "sometimes I like the quiet." The priest silently watched the young man disappear into the basement of the church.  
  
Father Michael had seen many things while living in this town and he wasn't as blind as some of the residents. One of the things he did notice was a small group of children who did what they could to protect the inhabitants of the town.  
  
He could still remember that one night, not long ago, where he was fortunate to meet Xander.  
  
~Flash~  
  
Father Michael stopped just inside the front entrance of his church. Not wanting to take any chances this late at night, he motioned for the few people there to stay inside while he went to see if he could help whoever was in trouble.  
  
Not far away, a woman was lying up against a car. In front of her was a man that Michael instinctively knew was a dark creature. He had seen plenty of them in the short time he had lived here. He was about to confront the creature when someone beat him to the punch.  
  
"Wow. That was impressive," A dark-haired boy walked out of the shadows. He clapped his hands and gestured to the unconscious woman.  
  
The creature growled and lunged at the him. Surprisingly, the boy simply dropped onto his back and watched as the creature flew over him. He got back to his feet quickly and peered into the shadows behind him. "Aw, did the big bad vampire miss me?" the boy taunted.  
  
Vampire? Michael grabbed a small cross from his pocket as the vampire walked out into the light coming from the street lamp. "You got lucky boy." The vampire stopped between the boy and it's original victim.  
  
The boy looked past the vampire at older man and nodded. Concentrating on the vampire again, he said. "Don't you just hate it when you have to work for your dinner."  
  
The vampire moved toward the boy.  
  
"Look out behind you."  
  
The vampire turned and howled in pain as a cross was shoved in his face leaving a small cross-shaped burn on it. The vampire backed up in pain then jerked suddenly as something erupted from his chest. The vampire dissolved into dust leaving the young man standing there with a piece of wood in his hand.  
  
Although Michael knew what it would take to destroy such a creature, he was still awed at the ease the young man displayed in staking the vampire. He didn't know how long he stood there in shock before a hand was placed on his shoulder. "Maybe we should go inside."  
  
Michael glanced at the owner of the hand. The dark haired young man, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with his arm around the shoulders of a distraught woman. The look he directed at Michael was full of compassion and determination.  
  
Regaining his senses, Father Michael quickly escorted them inside.  
  
~Flash~  
  
That night Father Michael had learned the life story of one Xander Harris and, as Xander dubbed them, the 'Scooby Gang'.  
  
The woman, Kayla Grant, was a couple of years older than Xander and had just started at a college in San Francisco. Kayla was visiting friends when she had the bad luck of leaving a party with a vampire.  
  
Kayla immediately took to a liking to Xander and thought of him like a younger brother. Over the last year she had become quite protective of the younger man.  
  
"Kayla..." Michael could tell that something was troubling Xander. He knew that Kayla would be able to get Xander to open up. Michael didn't know how she could do it easily when he was hard pressed to do the same thing.  
  
Michael noticed that since he had met Xander, the young man always tried to keep his problems to himself so he wouldn't burden his friends.  
  
That selfless mannerism of Xander's caused a smile to grace the older man's face briefly. His expression became troubled as he started to worry about his young friend. Remembering his earlier thought, Michael headed into his office to call Kayla and see if she could help.  
  
* * * 


	3. Chapter Three

Spoilers: Everything is fair game  
  
Disclaimer: Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did. Everything belongs to Joss.  
  
Note - thoughts   
  
Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Giles picked Anya up and set her onto his couch. She started to mutter incoherently about love, Xander, Spike and blood. "No Xander. Please not that," she whimpered. She twist and turned on the couch looking as if she was experiencing some kind of nightmare. "Spike.. Stop.."  
  
A damp washcloth was placed on Anya's forehead. Giles looked up, not surprised to see that Tara was responsible and he smiled at her in thanks. Tara returned the smile shyly and went to stand next to Willow.  
  
"Giles," Willow spoke up. "How is she?"  
  
"It's hard to say. She doesn't have any injuries but.." Giles removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
  
"We should find Xander," Buffy said.  
  
"She's right," Willow added. "He'll want to know about this. He would be able to help her better than us."  
  
"Maybe, unless he turned on her," Buffy said under her breath.  
  
Willow stared hard at Buffy. Giles braced himself for the explosion when unexpectedly, Tara grab Willow's hand and pulled Willow into the kitchen. "You know that I'm right Giles," Buffy whispered when they were gone.  
  
Giles ignored what she said and concentrated on Anya. Gently, he wiped her face with the washcloth. The girl looked lost to Giles. He prayed that Buffy is wrong about Xander. He couldn't imagine how the combination of his confinement and Buffy's reaction to his story affected Xander. Giles hoped that the good inside of Xander would prevent him from walking down that dark path like Faith did.  
  
Faith.. His mind dwelled briefly on the comatose Slayer. Giles know that if Xander has become evil, they would be hard pressed to fight him. He would be worse than Faith simply because his knowledge of us is more complete.   
  
"Giles. Is she going to be okay?"  
  
Giles glanced at Buffy before answering. "I'm not entirely sure. It appears that whatever happened was something terrible to her. And considering that she used to be a daemon, it must have been very disturbing to traumatize her like this," Giles, still holding his glasses, started to clean them. "We need to talk to Xander," he said at last.  
  
* * *  
  
Tara pulled Willow into the kitchen. "Willow," she whispered.  
  
"What?!" She hissed. Tara shrank back from the redhead. The little bit of fear in her eyes made Willow feel guilty. "I'm sorry Tara. It's just that I'm worried about Xander."  
  
"I know," Tara smiled nervously. "You love him very much."  
  
Willow nodded slowly. "As much as I love Giles and Buffy. Which is why it hurts me to see them automatically side against Xander. It's as if everything he has done for us all doesn't matter," Willow furiously began pacing in the small room. "Just because Buffy likes Riley, she believed him instead of Xander."  
  
"It c-c-could have been more than that," Tara said in a timid voice.  
  
Willow turned to respond but softened her voice. "Tara, I know that you don't know Xander very well but he would never do what Riley said."  
  
Happy that Willow didn't yell at her, Tara reached out and grasped her hand. "All I'm saying is that maybe Buffy thought she was doing the right thing."  
  
That got a snort out of Willow. Tara was quiet for a second before asking. "What about that story the police asked us about? I got the feeling from you guys that there was some truth to it"  
  
"Some of that really happened."  
  
Tara's eyebrows shot up at that admission but Willow didn't notice as she continued. "A daemon called The Judge had been brought to Sunnydale and we needed some heavy firepower to defeat him. Xander and Cordelia snuck onto the base and stole a rocket launcher."  
  
"And that killed the daemon?"  
  
"Not really," Willow shrugged then let out a heavy sigh.  
  
"W-w-what do you mean 'not really'?"  
  
"It's in pieces now; arms, legs, body and head. As long as they're kept seperate, the Judge can't reform."  
  
"But if someone puts them together?" Tara asked.  
  
"Then the Judge will once again, try to kill all of humanity."  
  
Tara silently looked at the three people in the living room for a few seconds, debating if she should say what she felt. "Willow, about Xander." Willow looked at her. "Maybe Buffy's right."  
  
Anger flashed in Willow's eyes. "Are you saying that you believe her?"  
  
"N-n-no I'm n-not," she stuttered. Willow attempted an apology but Tara waved for her to wait. "All I'm s-saying is that w-what if the Initiative did something to him?"  
  
Willow slumped against the counter. That was another fear that she had. Mainly because she didn't know how long Xander was down there. A person didn't have to be a genius, or paranoid, to guess that there might be scientists in the base doing experiments on the demons that they catch. Especially when you have the chip in Spike's brain as evidence. With a single tear falling down her cheek, she turned to Tara. "I just want to find him before anything else happens."  
  
Tara drew Willow into a hug, rocking her slowly side to side. Tara would be scared if she could hear the oath that Willow was unconsciously screaming deep inside her mind. If they did do something to Xander, I'll make them pay.   
  
* * *  
  
Willy was washing down the bar. He had a large number of customers lately. Not that he cared, so long as their money was good. He had to close up for a couple of hours to clean up after a nasty fight. He had almost finished when he heard knocking at the door.  
  
"We're closed," he yelled but the knocking continued. "Sheesh, can't a guy get any work done around here." He glanced nervously towards the back room before he opened the door a little to say. "Hey, can't you read the sign?"  
  
A fist shot in through the opening, clocking Willy on the chin. He landed hard on the floor and watched as the door was kicked in. His attacker, decked out in dark clothes, was flanked by two others. All three had an aura of authority and discipline surrounding them that all but screamed military.  
  
Willy remembered some stories he had heard from his patrons over the last couple of nights. Stories of a group of people trying to capture daemons. That's all he needed right now. A bunch of idiots scaring away his customers. "Aww man, why can't you guys leave me alone. I'm just an honest business man trying to make a living."  
  
"Now Willy," The man in charge said. "It is Willy right?" The bartender nodded, "Word is if information is needed, you are the one to see."  
  
"Maybe," Willy hedged.  
  
"And from what I understand, you've had dealings with the Slayer and her group."  
  
"Sometimes."  
  
Willy noticed that one of the men took up a position by the door. The other cleaned off a table and set a couple of chairs around it before taking a similar position by the door leading into the back. The man in charge sat in one of the chairs and motioned to the other. He then pulled out a gun and set it on top of the table. "Well I think you should get comfortable because I need a lot of information."  
  
Taking the empty seat, Willy asked. "Who are you?"  
  
"A friend," he said with a cold smile. "My name's Forrest."  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy was getting worried. Anya has been traumatized, Xander was nowhere to be found and she had not heard from Riley. "Giles, we need to do something."  
  
"We are Buffy," he sighed at the look she directed at him.  
  
Buffy opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Anya started to moan softly. "No... You can't... Spike... Xander... Stop... Bunnies..."  
  
Buffy and Giles share a look. They tried to hear more but Anya had faded out again.  
  
Giles was pensive. "You don't think that Spike has found a way to remove that chip, do you?" He looked at Buffy. "Perhaps Spike attacked her or possibly Xander."  
  
"It's that or with the way Xander is, he attacked Spike. Either way I think I should go to Spike's crypt," Buffy checked the time. "Sun's still up so there's a good chance I'll find at least Spike there."  
  
"Right. I'll stay here and care for Anya. Are you going to take Willow with you?"  
  
Buffy glanced at the kitchen where the two witches were talking."No. There's something up with Xander and I don't want to fight with her about it."  
  
"You should hold of your judgement of Xander until we talk to him."  
  
"I'm not judging him." Giles' pointed look made her sigh loudly. "Fine. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize." Buffy headed out the door, shaking her head.  
  
Giles was worried that an apology would not make things right this time. The next few days were going to be hard on everyone and he wasn't sure if the group would be able to survive.  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy quietly closed the door behind her. She walked out to the sidewalk and headed down the street. After a few feet she stopped, looking briefly over her shoulder. She scanned the area before turning back to where she was headed.  
  
Not far from where she stopped, Marcus Tyler, a blonde-haired man in his twenties, stepped out from behind a parked van.  
  
"Buffy Summers just left," he spoke into a radio. "Rupert Giles, Tara McClay and Willow Rosenberg are still inside."  
  
[ Follow Summers but do not engage. Report where she goes and who she talks to. ]  
  
He waited for more instructions but none came. "Dumb bitch," he muttered. "She just had to call in everybody who was off-duty like it was our fault that a civilian escaped quarantine." He watched the blonde walk down the sidewalk but his thoughts were on the birthday gift he had just bought for his girlfriend before being called in. He hoped that he could make the surprise party that was scheduled for tomorrow night.  
  
Marcus returned his attention to the job before him which was to follow Buffy Summers. He let her to reach the street corner before starting to follow.  
  
* * *  
  
Xander left the church through an underground tunnel located in the basement. He followed it randomly without thinking. His mind was distracted as it sorted and organized every memory he had of the last three years with the two sets of memories that he had unconsciously kept seperate.  
  
Those of the Hyena were centered around the primal feelings of being a part of a 'pack'. Eating, mating and sleeping were the main priorities for the animal spirit. And he didn't think he had felt more alive than when the Hyena possessed him. Every sense was sharper; sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. Not to mention the rush of adrenaline during a kill.  
  
All these he repressed for years because of what he did to his friends.  
  
And the memories of the Soldier were almost as confusing. The reason for this stemmed from the fact that the Soldier was really a military trained Alexander Harris.  
  
Xander didn't understand exactly how that was possible. He thought about it for months after that Halloween. It was like something out of comic books or science fiction stories where a guy would meet with his future self or a alternate version of himself from a different reality.  
  
He tried asking Giles about different realities once around Thanksgiving. If they existed, would they be the same as this reality or not. Xander even asked if there could be a time difference between two realities where one would be the present; the other a future.  
  
Xander remembered the suspicious look that Giles gave him. After jumping to conclusions, Giles demanded that Xander explain why he was asking these questions. Xander managed to dance around the reason while barely convincing Giles that he had not, and didn't want to, cast any spells. When Giles settled down, they talked for a little while.  
  
The idea that made the most sense to Xander from his discussion with Giles was that the Soldier memories came from a possible reality where he joined the Army and was stationed here in Sunnydale.  
  
What had Xander worried was that he didn't remember seeing any of his friends in those memories. That 'Alexander' never knew Willow or met Kayla. But the thing that screamed out at him was that 'Alexander' was never introduced to the supernatural so he had never heard of a Slayer or the Watcher's Council.  
  
All of this served to keep his mind occupied while letting his instincts guide him through the maze of tunnels that exist below Sunndydale. His subconscious influencing where Xander went and which passages he took.  
  
When his instincts told him that he was being followed, Xander was forced to focus on his surroundings. He knelt down on one knee and listened. He could hear a faint shuffling noise that repeated slightly louder every other second. Like someone was dragging their feet while walking.  
  
When Xander stood back up, he heard the shuffling noise stop. "You might as well show yourself. I know you are there."  
  
From behind him a tall but thin man came into view. His face had all the trademark features of a vampire. "How did you know I was behind you?"  
  
Xander just stared at the vampire, a small tugged at his lips.  
  
The vampire felt that there was something different about the human but then shrugged. "Fine. It's not like I really care."  
  
Xander stayed still, letting the vampire make the first move. He didn't have long to wait as the vampire attempted to grab him by the neck. At the last second Xander dropped to one knee and delivered a two-fisted blow to the vampire just below the rib cage. This caused the vampire to back up and Xander leaned back on one knee and kicked out at the vampire. Xander foot collided with one of the vamp's knees pushing the leg backwards at an unnatural angle.  
  
The vampire fell to the ground, clutching the ruined leg. Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a short, thin stake. Walking over to the fallen vampire, Xander squatted down and asked. "Is that painful?" Xander pointed at the damaged knee. "Damn, that looks very painful. Do you want some aspirin?"  
  
The vampire lunged for him but Xander just shoved the undead creature down with one hand and thrust the small stake into the heart with the other. Turning away, he didn't even bothering to watch the vampire explode into dust.  
  
The fact that he just beat a vampire single-handedly didn't sink in right away. He got maybe ten feet before stopping cold. He turned back and looked at the pile of dust on the floor with astonishment written clearly on his face. Five heartbeats later Xander laughed out loud, not caring if anyone heard him and left the area through a side passage.  
  
* * *  
  
Father Michael was drumming his fingers on the desk he was sitting behind while he for his call to be answered.  
  
[ We Hide 'em Mortuary. You stab 'em, we slab 'em. Dismemberment's are on special this week. ]  
  
"Kayla!" Michael exclaimed mortified.  
  
[ Michael! ]  
  
His temper flared temporarily when he heard her laughter erupt from the phone. "Please tell me that you don't answer your phone like that every time."  
  
[ Oh I knew it was you. ]  
  
Annoyed as he was, he could hear the smile in her voice. "How did you know it was me?"  
  
[ How many times am I going to have to explain Caller ID to you? ]  
  
Michael didn't want to get into that conversation. "Kayla, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to come for a visit?"  
  
[ That shouldn't be a problem. I don't have any plans that can't be put off. But my question now is, why? ]  
  
Michael pondered on what to tell her. He nonchalantly said, "No reason. I just thought that it would be nice to have some assistance this week from one of my favorite helpers."  
  
[ What's going on there Father? You normally don't ask me for favors when you can guilt-trip Xander into doing what you need and... I usually don't need a shovel when we talk. ]  
  
He really didn't want to get into this over the phone but Kayla could be just as stubborn as Xander. So rather than have a long and drawn out conversation, he decided to tell her. "Late yesterday, the town experienced an earthquake and this morning, there has been talk of an explosion near the college here."  
  
[ Was anyone hurt? ]  
  
"From what I understand, there were no injuries or deaths but I've heard from people that came to the church today that a few faculty members are missing."  
  
[ Not to sound uncaring but why do you need me there? ]  
  
"It's... it's Xander."  
  
[ What's this got to do with Xander?! ]  
  
"I don't know. He was here earlier but when I asked him if he was okay, Xander told me that he didn't want to talk about it."  
  
[ Is he okay? ]  
  
"He didn't appeared to be physically hurt."  
  
[ Is. He. Okay. ]  
  
Michael could hear the concern in her voice. "No," he said quietly. "I don't know what caused this shift in him but he was very quiet when he came for some of his stuff."  
  
[ He dug into his stash? That can't be good. ]  
  
He was inclined to agree with her. Michael remembered when Xander first approached him about using the store room to hold some clothing and other items just in case of emergency. Knowing what could happen in this town, Michael agreed to let Xander store some belongings in the church. After that Xander would stop by periodically to either check on the items there or to add more. This is the first time that Xander needed to use what was stored in that room.  
  
[ Father Michael? ]  
  
Startled out of his thoughts, Michael replied. "I'm sorry Kayla. I was just thinking. What did you say?"  
  
[ I said that I'll try to get there as soon as I can. I've got to finish a few things here before I can leave. ]  
  
"Please hurry."  
  
[ I will. Bye ]  
  
"Bye."  
  
Father Michael stared at the phone in his hand. He hoped that once Kayla arrived, they would uncover the truth of what their friend may be currently involved in.  
  
* * *  
  
The sun was low in the sky as Buffy weaved her way through the numerous graveyards towards Spike's crypt. She was battling an internal war over her feelings. She wanted to believe in Xander as much as Willow did but she can't get past the images of Xander fighting.  
  
Despite what Willow said, Buffy had seen him fight. But the only times that she had seen any kind of fighting ability from Xander was when he was possessed. Not so much with the Hyena as when he was the Soldier.  
  
She could clearly remember watching him beat Larry in a fight when they were possessed by their costumes during Halloween. After that night, Xander had plenty of opportunities to show if he remembered any combat skills. The only time he showed any knowledge was when he instructed on how to operate the rocket launcher he stole.  
  
All this led her to believe that Xander might be possessed again. It was the only explanation her mind would accept for Xander's sudden ability to fight. She was sure that once they found him, they would find out what happened and figure out what to do to return Xander to normal.  
  
Buffy's thoughts were interrupted as she was forced to stop before the open crypt door. There was a strong smell coming from inside which made her stomach turn.  
  
"Spike?"  
  
She took two steps from the door. The room was dark as the only light in the room was coming from the open door.  
  
"Xander?"  
  
A low growl emanated from the far corner. Buffy squinted her eyes, trying to make out the dark form across the room. "Spike?"  
  
She tried to take a step further into the room only to lose her balance on a wet patch of floor. Her foot slid out from under her, leaving Buffy flat on her back.  
  
"What the.."  
  
Buffy twisted around, slowly raising up on her hands and knees. The smell from before was overpowering now. She lifted her hand into the slowly fading sunlight and realized what she has been smelling when she saw that her hand was covered in blood.  
  
At the sound of a louder growl, Buffy looked up in time to see Spike charge at her from across the room. During the three seconds it would take for Spike to reach her, Buffy calmly noticed several things about the vampire.  
  
One second passed.  
  
As Spike was illuminated briefly by the fading sunset, Buffy could see that his face was covered in sores, especially along the jaw and neck. The hands that were now reaching for her, were smaller now as if they were just skin and bones.  
  
Two seconds passed.  
  
As he got closer Buffy locked eyes with Spike. She was startled to see the arrogant intelligence she usually found there was gone. The eyes coming at her were filled with a wild, almost animalistic hunger.  
  
Three seconds passed.  
  
Buffy felt the shriveled, bony hands close around her throat as she was roughly shoved against the wall. Because shock reigned in her mind, she wasn't fighting to free herself. In the back of her mind she was screaming at herself to knock Spike away. To defend herself. To not die.  
  
What happened to his chip?   
  
Buffy was snapped out of her shock when Spike jerked her head to the side, exposing her neck. She began to struggle against her captor. She felt desperately for anything that might help her.  
  
Buffy was vaguely aware of her hand grasping for the small cross that she wears around her neck. She brought it up to Spike's face as he sank his fangs into her neck. A scream rang through the crypt and Buffy didn't know if it was Spike who was screaming or herself.  
  
* * * 


	4. Chapter Four

Spoilers: Everything is fair game Disclaimer: Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did. Everything belongs to Joss. Note - thoughts   
  
Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Willow, followed closely by Tara, exited the kitchen to find Giles looking after Anya by himself. Glancing around the room Willow asked "Where is Buffy?"  
  
Giles stiffened slightly. "I sent her to see if Spike knew where Xander was."  
  
Willow walked up to Giles. "What makes you think that Spike would know where Xander is?"  
  
Giles stepped away from her as he pointed to the sleeping form on the couch. "Anya," Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them. "She kept mentioning both Xander and Spike in her sleep so Buffy and I thought it would be best to track down Spike and see what he knew of Xander's whereabouts."  
  
Willow's face darkened. "Why? So Buffy can have another shot at gift- wrapping him for Riley?"  
  
Giles shook his head and sighed loudly. "Willow, you're not the only one worried about Xander."  
  
"No? So I'm just the only one who believes in Xander," Willow said bitterly.  
  
"Willow, I never said-"  
  
"Then why didn't you help defend him when Buffy started in on her 'Xander must be possessed' rant. Why is it so easy for you to believe the worst of Xander?"  
  
"I don't. I just-"  
  
"Just what? Believe everything that Buffy tells you?" Willow crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
Tara stayed in the background as Willow and Giles stared at each other. She could tell that Willow's emotions were running high but hoped that neither would end up saying or doing something that would be regretted later.  
  
"No," Giles moved closer to Willow and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Willow, I understand that you're upset and angry but we need to stay calm and objective." Giles could feel some of the tension in the young woman drain away and he hoped that his next question wouldn't make Willow's anger flare up again. "Now I want you to honestly ask yourself a question. Can you say with one hundred percent conviction that what we have heard about Xander's activities are of the norm for him?"  
  
Willow stared coldly at her elder before answering. "No. But can you say the same about the Initiative? That they wouldn't lie to us?"  
  
Giles stern gaze faltered slightly and Willow nodded her head in satisfaction when Giles looked away.  
  
Willow sank into the chair by the couch and closed her eyes. Despite her faith in Xander she was afraid, plain and simple. Afraid for her friends, herself and their families. Regardless who is right, everyone she loved would be in danger and that weighed heavily on her soul. She needed to find Xander before anyone else and she had an idea on how to do it. "Willow," Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Tara say her name. Willow opened her eyes to see Tara standing next to her with a compassionate look on her face.  
  
Giles could see the unshed tears in Willow's eyes along with the fear of losing both her friends. "Don't worry Willow," Giles said. "I'm sure that we'll be able to work everything out."  
  
Willow stayed silent as she nodded absently. Her thoughts turned inward and she excused herself claiming the need to use the bathroom. After Willow left, Tara went into the kitchen and kept herself busy making more tea. With both girls out of the room, Giles returned his attention back to Anya. The ex-daemon began to moan fitfully as she slept.  
  
Giles was worried about what was going to happen to what he considered his 'family' over the couple of days. "Hopefully Buffy will be able to extract some useful information from Spike."  
  
* * *  
  
Inside Spike's crypt, things were not going like Giles hoped.  
  
Instead of learning what Spike knew about Xander, the vampire had Buffy pinned to a wall and was gorging himself on Slayer blood. Spike had her pressed tight against the wall preventing Buffy from hitting or kicking him. Buffy's only weapon was the small cross that hung around her neck but it had no effect on the vampire except to leave cross shaped burns on Spike's face.  
  
Buffy dropped her cross and desperately grabbed Spike by his hair and brutally pulled him away from her neck. Her actions caused Spike's fangs to rip her neck open and Buffy nearly succumbed from the pain. Doing her best to stay conscious, Buffy brought her free hand up and was about to punch Spike when movement by the door distracted her.  
  
By the door, Buffy saw the outline of a man highlighted by the fading sunlight.  
  
Buffy was trying to focus on the man when a bright light was shone in her face. Buffy shut her eyes tightly to keep from being blinded but Spike wasn't so lucky and he flinched as his light sensitive eyes was burned by the light. When Buffy felt his grip slacken, she grabbed Spike's head in both hands and head-butted the vampire, pushing the vampire away from her.  
  
Spike tried to grab her once more but before he could touch her, the vampire was enveloped in a bright flash of light. Following the stream of light back to the door, Buffy saw that the mystery man had a gun that looked like one of the Initiative's blasters and was giving Spike everything the weapon had.  
  
Buffy grew alarmed as sparks of electricity started to jump from Spike to her. At first, a small corner of Buffy's mind wondered why she wasn't feeling anything but then her body was racked by a searing pain that left her muscles feeling like putty. Buffy's remaining energy was sapped by the electricity and she collapsed to the floor. She could dimly feel her body twitch slightly before she lost consciousness.  
  
* * *  
  
Marcus lowered his weapon as he watched Buffy Summers collapse against the wall. The vampire was thrown from her and was lying on the floor a few feet away. Marcus regretted that the girl got caught in his weapon's electrical discharge but he figured it was better than letting the vampire have another chance at draining her.  
  
He made his way over to check on the blonde and was surprised at the damage the vampire was able to do. From what he was told, Buffy Summers possessed enhanced speed and strength and was believed to be more than a match for a single vampire.  
  
Marcus decided to worry about that later and deal with what was in front of him. Not wanting to take any chances Marcus kept his weapon trained at the vampire. Then he dropped his flashlight and pulled a field dressing patch from one of his pockets. Still holding his weapon in one hand, Marcus tried to bandage Buffy's neck with his free hand before she bled to death.  
  
* * *  
  
Willy's bar was unusually quiet as Forrest calmly stared at the bartender from across the table. Willy's eyes twitched nervously between Forrest and the gun on the table.  
  
"Now Willy." Forrest leaned back in the chair.  
  
Willy looked up at the man. What was his name? Forrest? "What?"  
  
"What can you tell me about Xander Harris?"  
  
"Harris?" Willy asked, confused. "Why do you want to know about him."  
  
Forrest leaned across the table and stared coldly at the bartender. "I'm the one asking the questions here."  
  
"Hey! No need to get all hot and bothered."  
  
"Then answer the question."  
  
"What can I say? Other than running around with the Slayer, Xander's a decent enough kid who, at least pays me for information."  
  
Forrest just shrugged. "Not my concern. What else?"  
  
Willy glanced briefly at the back entrance. The man standing there, was looking into the back hallway. "Sir!"  
  
Forrest turned in his chair. "What is it Soldier?"  
  
"I think I heard a noise in the back room."  
  
Forrest stared at Willy as he picked up the gun that was lying on the table. "Check it out," Forrest said as he motioned the other man to follow. Focusing on Willy again, Forrest asked, "Who's back there?"  
  
"Back there? There's nobody in back."  
  
Forrest was about to argue when a loud crash could be heard. Jumping out of his chair, Forrest turned around in time to see his two men being thrown back into the room and land at his feet. Forrest leaned down to check if his men were still alive.  
  
"Ahem."  
  
Both Willy and Forrest looked up to see a man and a woman enter the room from the back. The man was dressed in a very expensive looking suit while the woman was draped in a hooded cloak that covered most of her body and head, leaving the lower part of her face exposed.  
  
Forrest leveled his gun at the two 'people' that was responsible for his soldiers current condition. "Who the fuck are you?"  
  
The man stepped forward and said. "Us? We're no concern of yours or should I say that in a few minutes we won't be of any concern of yours."  
  
The woman move with supernatural speed toward the remaining soldier. Before Forrest could react, she knocked the weapon from his hands and grabbed him by the throat. The woman then lifted him up with one hand until his feet were dangling a few inches above the floor and then she threw him into a cluster of tables and chairs, sending broken pieces of wood everywhere.  
  
"Aw c'mon guys," Willy whined. "Do you really need to destroy my bar?"  
  
The woman turned to Willy and wagged a finger at him. Willy instinctively backed up when he saw a pair of yellow eyes glowing brightly from within the darkness of the hood.  
  
"Undead bitch!" Forrest yelled, holding a broken chair leg like a stake in both hands and tried to stab her through the back. The woman spun around and stopped his attack by grabbing both of his wrists in her hands. Her hood fell down during in the process revealing the demonic features of a vampire. Before Willy could see her face clearly, it was quickly obscured by her long, brown hair.  
  
Willy held his breath, watching the soldier stare defiantly at the vampire. The man in the suit moved next to him. "You don't need to worry about them anymore." He said, motioning to the other men on the floor.  
  
"Them?" Willy was incredulous. "You and your girlfriend are costing me more money than they were."  
  
The man chuckled. "I wouldn't say that the relationship between me and my 'girlfriend', as you called her, is that close."  
  
"Whatever," Willy just shook his head. "Just make sure she doesn't get blood all over the place."  
  
"Oh, she's not going to drain them. She is going to... well let's just say that she's telling them something very important."  
  
Willy returned his attention to the struggle between the vampire and human and was surprised to see a completely blank look on Forrest's face and was swaying slightly from side to side as the vampire began speaking softly. Soon the man started smiling like an eager little boy and moved to his friends, waking them up roughly with hard slaps. Then the vampire locked eyes with the two soldiers and soon had them eating out of her hand as well.  
  
"Are we done here yet?"  
  
Willy jumped as a mousy little man appeared at the doorway leading to the back room. I gotta get a lock for that sewer entrance. The man standing beside Willy simply motioned the smaller man to be quiet as he addressed the vampire. "Will they do as instructed?"  
  
The vampire left the three soldiers and walked over to the man she came arrived with. Willy was shocked when he finally got a good view of the vampire. He recognized who she was and tried not to stare as she stopped to watched the three soldiers leave the bar.  
  
"Oh yes. They will be good little boys," she purred.  
  
The man then turned to the newcomer. "We're almost done here Ray. Please escort my companion back to my office," the man said.  
  
Ray nodded and placed his hand on the vampire's arm. Then he closed his eyes and both him and the vampire disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.  
  
Willy stared at the fading smoke before quietly asking. "Who are you guys?"  
  
"That doesn't matter. We're here to let you know that if anyone comes asking about Alexander Harris, we would appreciate it if you lead them to believe that he's a just normal kid. A nobody." The man pierced Willy with a hard stare. "Understand?"  
  
"Yeah. Sure. No problem."  
  
"Good boy." he said condescendingly, as if he was talking to a puppy. "Here's my card. Call me when you have a dollar amount for the damages that my 'girlfriend' caused."  
  
Willy stared at the card and hardly paid any attention when the short man, Ray, suddenly appeared beside the other man. He didn't even notice when both men vanished into a similar cloud of smoke.  
  
Willy stared at that business card, thinking that maybe it was time to relocate his business to a more friendly neighborhood.  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy found herself floating in a sea of darkness. Her body was limp, unable to obey her mental commands to move. The darkness was cool and comforting. A shield from life and all her problems. Buffy felt herself beginning to surrender to that numbing darkness. She didn't know how long she floated there before a small light appeared in the darkness.  
  
"..uffy Summ.."  
  
Whaa.. Buffy could've sworn she heard somebody say her name.  
  
"Wake up.." The far away voice came again.  
  
In the darkness surrounding her, the small light became a blinding flash forcing her to wake up. Even though her vision was unfocused, Buffy could make out the dim features of Spike's crypt. Suddenly, a blonde-haired man moved into her field of vision, startling her. Without a second thought, Buffy let loose a solid punch to the man's jaw.  
  
The man was lifted up into the air from the pure force of the blow and was thrown backwards several feet. Buffy ignored the man she just punched for the moment as she tried to clear her vision. She could make the sounds of groaning. Both in front of her and off to her right.  
  
Unsteadily, she got to her feet and staggered forward to check out who it was that she punched. The only light in the room was a discarded flashlight but it was enough to confirm that the guy she hammered was not only human but was also from the Initiative. A blaster rested on the ground next to the man. That was when she realized that this was the man that entered the crypt when Spike was feeding off her.  
  
As if on cue, a moan reverberated out from behind Buffy causing her to turn around. Grabbing the flashlight off the ground, she aimed it at the source of the noise. The light revealed the shriveled form of Spike. His head snapped up and Buffy could see the light reflected in his vampiric eyes. Before she could say his name, Spike growled and charged at her.  
  
Bringing the flashlight up, Buffy viciously backhanded the vampire with it. Spike stumbled backwards from the force of the blow giving Buffy time to reach for the blaster at her feet. Before Spike could attack again, she leveled the weapon at him and fired. The bright electrical charge lit up the room once more as it struck the vampire in the chest.  
  
Buffy exhaled loudly when she saw Spike fall to the floor. She leaned back against the wall behind her and tried to get her heartbeat back under control. Thinking that the worst was over, Buffy searched for her cell phone. When she brought up to the flashlight and found that it was completely fried. "Oh great."  
  
Stifling a scream of frustration, Buffy threw the ruined phone against the wall, shattering it. Buffy then moved to the commando to check if he had a phone when she heard a noise to her right.  
  
Bringing the light back up she watched in disbelief as Spike slowly stood up. An idle corner of her mind remained detached and counted the many wounds on Spike's face and neck in morbid fascination as Spike raised his head and looked at her. The only recognition she saw in his eyes was for the weapon she still held. Spike gazed at her, then the fallen commando and then finally at the open door. With a snarl, the vampire ran for door with all his supernatural speed and vanished into the night.  
  
Buffy swore heatedly as she dropped the flashlight next to the soldier. Then, with the blaster still in her grip, she took off after Spike.  
  
* * *  
  
Xander was currently laying on the roof of one of Sunndydale's many crypts. He stared up at the cloudless, night sky as he absently counted the stars in his view. While Xander kept his eyes to the sky, all his other senses were sampling the area around him. The stray breeze that brought smells from the college that borders the graveyard. The sounds of insects that would start up but then disappear when a larger being would come close. The steady beating of a bat's wings as it searches the night for insects. These and other little bits of information were collected and processed in the back of his mind.  
  
Once Xander had come up from the tunnels, his body shut down as his mind worked overtime to understand and adapt to what was happening to him. Xander had noticed that since he chose to relive the memories of the 'Hyena' and the 'Soldier', his senses seem to have grown sharper and he was fighting a little better than normal. Xander was worried that the sources of those memories were trying to take over his body again until he realized that he, Xander Harris, was still in complete control.  
  
Xander first instinct was to go to Willow or Giles for help. He knew that of everyone, they would be able help figure out what was happening to him. That they would be able to find some explanation for what he was going through. Unfortunately both of them would be under the watchful gaze of the Initiative and even if they weren't, he was pretty sure that the Slayer would be with them. Xander wanted to avoid the Slayer for now since he wasn't sure what good would come from a meeting with her yet. That left only one person that Xander might go to but he didn't want to get Father Michael involved.  
  
A light breeze brought the sound of hushed voices to Xander's ears, prompting his mind to focus on what was happening around him. Moving silently onto his stomach, Xander carefully scanned the area around the crypt. Off to the west, a group of people was moving slowly in his direction. As they got closer to his position, he realized that they were commandos. Xander stayed completely still as the five soldiers passed underneath him into the bushes to his far left.  
  
In his mind, a high pitched laughter echoed loudly as he wondered exactly what kind of training the Initiative gives their people these days. This crypt is barely a dozen feet tall, and they never bothered to look up. Xander just shook his head, wondering how the Initiative managed to stay in business this long.  
  
Suddenly a tingling sensation ran up the back of Xander's neck. Xander tensed up as he tried to identify the reason for what he was feeling. It feels like someone's watching me. Turning slightly to look behind him, Xander could see no one but he had a strange feeling that he shouldn't be looking on the ground but in the air.  
  
Twisting suddenly onto his back, Xander gazed up at the star-filled sky and hanging not more that six feet above him, was a faint ripple in the air which caused the stars behind it to wobble. The distortion wasn't large but when Xander pointed at it, he thought he heard a sound come from it like a sharp intake of air then the distortion blinked out of existence.  
  
Gone. Xander waited but it didn't come back and the feeling of being watched had also vanished when the distortion disappeared. Someone was watching me magically and unless the Initiative are starting to use non- traditional means of surveillance, the only other person that would be trying to find me is..   
  
* * *  
  
Willow was breathing heavily and her heart raced as she leaned heavily against the far wall of Giles' bathroom.  
  
How did he... Willow couldn't complete that thought as what she just experienced replayed in her mind.  
  
Earlier, after having locked the bathroom door, Willow prepared to cast a simple enchantment to scry for Xander's location using the mirror on the wall. Willow knew that she shouldn't try any spells until she had a better control of her emotions. Strong emotions could either help or hinder the effects of any spell and hers made Willow feel like she was on a roller coaster but that didn't matter to Willow. Finding Xander was her main concern.  
  
Almost immediately after Willow started to recite the words for the spell, the mirror's surface began to ripple and an image began to appear. As the image came into focus, Willow saw Xander. He was in one of the graveyards, laying on top of one of the larger crypts in the area.  
  
Focusing more on Xander's surroundings, Willow saw a group of commandos that were approaching her friend's location. Willow's heart tightened in fear and she thought about calling for Giles but she knew that even if they left now, they wouldn't get there in time. All she could do was hope that they wouldn't find Xander or that he didn't go after the commandos.  
  
After what seemed like hours, the commandos literally walked right underneath Xander and continued past him. Willow's body slumped forward against the bathroom sink in relief but what really threatened to stop her heart, happened after the commandos left.  
  
Xander started looking around himself then suddenly he flipped onto his back, looked straight at her and pointed his finger. That broke her concentration enough to cause the spell to end. When that happened Xander's image faded away, leaving Willow to stare at her own reflection.  
  
Willow had stood there for several minutes wondering how Xander knew she was watching him. Reasons that her mind came up with to explain how Xander could sense her didn't offer any comfort to either her scientific mind nor her mystical.  
  
Willow had to admit to herself that since Xander was able to sense her spell, there might be some credibility to Buffy's claims of Xander being changed. Willow's thoughts turned briefly to the time when Xander was possessed by the Hyena but Willow wouldn't let what had happened in the past, paralyze her now. In fact Willow became even more determined to find out what exactly had happened between her friend and the Initiative. Her only decision now was if she should she tell Giles what happened or not before going after Xander.  
  
* * *  
  
Willow. Xander thought. If that was her then I better move before she tells - All thoughts about the red-headed Wiccan vanished when Xander heard more noise coming from behind him. Moving back onto his stomach, he turned slightly and patiently waited for the source of the noise to make it's appearance.  
  
As the sounds got closer, Xander got a glimpse of a blonde-haired man with the prominent facial features of a vampire. Spike! A multitude of emotions threatened to overwhelm him at the sight of the vampire. Many were connected to the scene that played out not too long ago in Spike's crypt between the vampire and the ex-daemon. The emotional roller coaster Xander was riding momentarily stopped when he was able to see Spike more clearly.  
  
To say that Xander was stunned at the vampire's physical appearance would be an understatement. Xander knew that Spike would be seriously hurt by holy water that he put into the blood bags but even Xander didn't think that the physical consequences would be this severe. He gives new meaning to the phrase 'nothing but skin and bones'   
  
Xander stayed silent and observed the reckless way Spike moved. It looked like the vampire was operating on instinct, following some scent in the air like a dog going from tree to bush to headstone. Xander silently watched the vampire's actions, wondering if the scent Spike was following was his own but before Xander could decide what to do, Spike's head shot up and he began running in the direction of the Initiative operatives. "Well, it looks like the hunters have just become the hunted," he said with a smirk.  
  
More sounds alerted Xander to yet another presence in the cemetery. What is going on? Is everyone out tonight? Not moving a hair, Xander watched as a blonde woman emerge from the same path that Spike came from. "Slayer." His voice was flat, almost devoid of emotion.  
  
Xander noticed the angry and determined expression on her face but what really caught his attention was that her neck was wrapped in a white cloth. The sight of her neck wrapped up like that pulled an image from the part of his mind that held his 'Soldier' memories. He could vaguely remember watching a Medic as he worked on a injured soldier. The Medic used the same type of white bandaging that Xander saw around the Slayer's neck.  
  
A vampire got lucky enough to bite her? Xander was incredulous. The only times that he knew of her getting bit was when the Master opened the Hellmouth and the time she let Angel feed off her since only a large amount Slayer's blood could save the vampire from a poison that Faith had infected him with.  
  
Then Xander realized that she came from the same direction that Spike came from. If she's tracking Spike and she's been hurt, does that mean that .. Spike bit her?! Xander's hatred for the vampire simmered just below the surface of his thoughts. How could he bite her? His chip should've stopped him cold before he got close enough to breathe on her neck.   
  
Xander continued to watch the Slayer as he mulled over this new development. The only reason Xander could up with was that the pain Spike was in had somehow overpowered whatever pain the chip could inflict. And that meant that Spike may no longer be affected by the implanted technology. Which means that he'll need to be eliminated.   
  
The Slayer paused, cocking her head to the side as if listening for something. Xander's muscles tensed up as he hugged the crypt's roof. Despite the success he had against Spike and the vampire underground, Xander instinctively knew that right now, he was nowhere near her level of fighting ability and he didn't want to press his returning abilities against a real fighter until they improved.  
  
When Buffy started to move away from his position, Xander quietly slid off the crypt. He followed hesitantly, noting that she was taking the same route that the Initiative and Spike took. Xander let her get a little further ahead and climbed a nearby tree. The tree was fairly tall. The highest branch that Xander found was a good twenty feet above the ground, letting him see a couple miles in every direction.  
  
A bright flash caught his attention. A short distance ahead of Buffy, between the trees, Xander could faintly see two commandos firing their blasters at an unknown enemy. Because of the trees, Xander couldn't see who the commandos were fighting but he could guess who it was.  
  
With a grin, Xander dropped to a branch halfway down before jumping the rest of the way to the ground. Then he ran to the fight.  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy had been following Spike's trail for the last few minutes when she was distracted by screams coming from off in the distance. "Oh great." Buffy ran in the direction of the screams and nearly collided with a body that came flying through the darkness at her. Diving out of the way, Buffy watched the body land hard onto a flat grave marker.  
  
Getting back to her feet, Buffy move to the body of whoever it was that had tried their hand at flying. She recognized the dark clothing and gear that the Initiative wear in the field and Buffy briefly thought about the absence her new boyfriend but taking care of Spike needed to be done first. Once she did that then she can question the commandos about where Riley was.  
  
Buffy reached down and placed her hand on the man's neck, checking for a pulse. Her fingers found a faint but steady pulse. Alive but unconscious. When Buffy stood back up, a strong sense of vertigo washed through her, sending Buffy to her knees. Lifting a shaky hand to her neck, Buffy could feel that the bandages were very wet. Must've opened it up when I was dodging flyboy here.   
  
Trusting her enhanced healing to take care of her neck, Buffy staggered forward. She saw two men down. Another was on the ground in pain, his right leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Spike was holding the last one by the neck and was noisily sucking the man's blood.  
  
"Spike!"  
  
The vampire looked at Buffy with the bottom half of his face covered in blood. "Slayer." An ugly sneer formed on that face as he sniffed the air causing Buffy to unconsciously bring her hand up to her neck. Spike dropped the soldier and advanced towards her. After two steps Spike stopped and sniffed the air again. Spike growled menacingly as he scanned the area as if he was looking for something.  
  
Buffy aimed her blaster at the vampire and fired. Man-made lightning arced from Buffy's weapon and slammed into Spike, driving him to his knees. The commando with the ruined leg also fired his weapon but Spike was able to roll to the side, avoiding the blast. Spike then charged at the wounded man, knocked the weapon from his hands and grabbed the man's neck, snapping it.  
  
When Spike looked at her, Buffy could tell that there was something different about the vampire. The blind animalistic hunger was gone from his eyes and the sores and lesions on his skin had begun healing. Ignoring Buffy, Spike twisted around and yelled out, "I know you're here Droopy. I can smell you."  
  
Droopy? Buffy's eyes widened and looked around. Xander!   
  
"I told you that I would make you pay for what you did to me."  
  
Buffy didn't know what the vampire was talking about. "Spike!"  
  
Spike looked at Buffy. "Wait your turn Slayer, I'll deal with you soon enough." Spike turned away from her.  
  
Buffy grabbed him by the arm and punched him in the face. "No. You'll deal with me now."  
  
"Oh I don't think so," Spike shook off the punch and backed away. "I think you should be more worried about droopy."  
  
"You better stay away from Xander."  
  
"Me stay away from him? Maybe if you had kept the little wanker on a tighter leash, he wouldn't be so unstable."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Spike's eyes widened in realization that Buffy didn't know that Xander found Ayna in his crypt after they had sex. He decided he could have some fun with the Slayer and draw out Xander. "Maybe you weren't paying attention ducks did you notice my complexion?" Spike pointed to his face and neck. "Droopy did this."  
  
"Xander did that?" Her voice had almost a child-like quality to it. "No. There is no way that he would be able to do that." Visions of the fight between Xander and Riley flashed in her mind. A part of her could accept that Xander, by himself, could win in a fight with her boyfriend. After all, they're both human but for Xander to be able to beat a vampire like Spike. Even with the chip working, Spike could have avoided anything Xander tried just with his demonic speed alone.  
  
"Oh he did, and more." Spike started to circle around her. "You should have seen what he did to Anya," he whispered.  
  
Buffy was trembling inside. Fear like she hadn't felt since Angel became evil, coursed through her. That was what she was feeling. Fear for her friends.  
  
"Oh it was sweet, Slayer" Spike continued. He couldn't remember much of what happened. Actually most of the details were hazy but some highlights did stick out in his memory. "He made her cry. He made her beg. He was ruthless, vindictive, cruel." Spike didn't bother to mention that as far as he knew, Xander didn't lay a finger on the girl but what the Slayer didn't know only made his story that much more fun to tell.  
  
"You should have seen her," Spike paused dramatically. "Angelus would've been proud."  
  
Buffy felt like she had been kicked in the gut as pictures of Xander hurting his girlfriend flooded her mind. What Spike said only cemented her belief that something was wrong with Xander. Now his change in attitude towards her made sense. The real Xander wouldn't hurt Anya anymore than he could hurt me or Willow. Lost in her thoughts, Buffy didn't realize that Spike was now standing in front of her.  
  
"And you Slayer." Buffy jumped at the sound of his voice. "It's time you were re-introduced to the Big Bad. And since Droopy is too scared to face me now, well..." Spike reared back and let loose a series of punches. Some Buffy managed to block or avoid. Some she didn't.  
  
Before she could retaliate, Spike backed away from her and grinned, "I do want to thank you for helping me get rid of that annoying chip."  
  
"Me?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well if you didn't come to me when you did," Spike shrugged unconcerned. "Who knows what would've happened to me but then... I got a taste of your sweet blood." He smirked. "Slayer blood." Spike stretched his arms out wide. "With that power coursing through me, I was able to heal much faster and endure all those shots you people hit me with. I'm guessing all that electricity was too much for the chip and the little bugger got fried."  
  
Buffy felt guilt well up inside of her as she remembered what the Master had told her the night of the prophecy, right before he bit her, 'If you hadn't come, I couldn't go'.  
  
"After I'm done with you, I think that I will pay a special visit to Willow. I'll bring her out here to find your corpse and then, maybe, I'll turn her." That broke Buffy from her thoughts and she glared at the vampire.  
  
"You touch her or any of my friends and I'll-"  
  
"You'll what, ducks. Stake me? Ooohh I'm shivering in my boots," Spike mocked.  
  
"Shiver this," a familiar voice said before the sounds of gunshots drowned out everything.  
  
Buffy ducked for cover as Spike was hit by several bullets. She looked up, shocked to see who was holding the smoking gun in his hands.  
  
"Xander?!"  
  
* * * 


	5. Chapter Five

Spoilers: Everything is fair game  
  
Disclaimer: Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did. Everything belongs to Joss.  
  
AN - Thanks to everyone who has given such positive feedback on this fic.  
  
Note - thoughts   
  
  
  
Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Five  
  
The home of Rupert Giles looked normal and peaceful from the outside however the people inside would argue otherwise as a growing sense of unease filled the air.  
  
"No I will not hold." Rupert Giles spoke heatedly on the phone then glanced over his shoulder hoping that he didn't disturbed Ayna and sighed at the sight of the girl still asleep. Turning back to the conversation, Giles tried to speak again. "But I need-" Giles was cut off again and then he pulled the phone from his ear, staring at the receiver. It was quite obvious to anyone watching that Giles clearly wanted to reach through the phone and throttle the person on the other end of the line.  
  
Tara, on the other hand, was idly flipping through one of Giles' numerous books. She would periodically look up from the book to gaze at the bathroom door that Willow had disappeared behind and wait a couple of seconds before releasing a worried sigh and go back to staring blankly at the book in front of her.  
  
Both Tara and Giles were so wrapped up in their thoughts that they had completely forgotten that Joyce Summers was still in the room. The elder Summers was sitting by herself on the stairs that lead upstairs to Giles' bedroom. Joyce found herself unable to do anything but watch as her daughter's surrogate family fell apart.  
  
I can't remember the last time I felt this useless. Joyce thought with a shake of her head. She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands as she watched Giles quietly argue with whoever it was that he was talking to.  
  
Joyce's gaze shifted from Giles to settled on the prone form of Xander's girlfriend. Joyce regretted that she didn't know as much as she would've liked to about Anya or her relationship with Xander. Ayna just seemed to appear one day and the girl became almost physically attached to Xander from that point on. Add to that Buffy had told her recently that Xander was living in his parents' basement and paying rent. To his parents! Then having to listen to the way Xander's father talked about him to the police was almost too much.  
  
Joyce sighed. She never fully understood Xander's home life. She tried to talk to him about it once but Xander somehow maneuvered the conversation to food and if she liked to cooked big meals. One thing led to another and that night she ended up with both Xander and Willow to feed in addition to her daughter. Joyce recalled that night with fondness. She remembered standing in the kitchen doorway watching Xander as he patted his stomach after practically inhaling a large pan of lasagna that he had talked her into cooking. While across the table, Buffy and Willow were teasing him about his eating habits.  
  
That memory was one of the few times that she could remember seeing Buffy genuinely happy and acting like a carefree teenager since moving to Sunndydale. It was during these rare times that she felt that as long as her daughter had friends like Xander and Willow, then Buffy would be alright. The belief that Xander and Willow had been and would be there for her daughter had helped Joyce significantly after she learned about Buffy's destiny as The Slayer.  
  
But now that belief was being challenged. Right now, Buffy apparently didn't have Xander's support anymore and that worried Joyce as much for Xander's sake as her daughter's. Granted Xander wasn't her responsibility but she had always felt that both he and Willow are a special part of her small family.  
  
Willow.. Joyce was concerned about the young redhead too. Willow was acting irrationally regardless of who is at fault for Xander's situation. And after watching Buffy storm out followed by Willow's argument with Giles, Joyce decided to take matters into her own hands.  
  
Joyce quietly got to her feet and made her way to the hallway, stopping briefly next to Tara. The young witch looked up at Joyce and smiled weakly. The elder Summers could see the worry in the young girl's eyes and she then laid a hand on Tara's shoulder, silently offering promises that things will turn out fine. Tara nodded and returned to stare at the book in her lap.  
  
Joyce left Tara where she was and walked through the hallway leading to the bathroom, Joyce stopped at the door and just as she raised her hand to knock, the door opened to reveal a determined but surprised Willow.  
  
"Mrs. Summers!" Willow quickly looked back over her shoulder into the bathroom and then back at the older woman. "Hi. Uhh.. did you want to use the bathroom?" Willow asked.  
  
Joyce noticed the slight flush in the girl's face. "Are you feeling okay Willow?"  
  
"I'm fine," Willow said dismissively but Joyce wasn't buying it. She could see how upset Willow was and Joyce could guess who Willow was angry with.  
  
"Willow," she started. "I know that you think that you hate Buffy-"  
  
"I don't hate Buffy!" Willow said shocked.  
  
The painfully honest way that Willow answered caused Joyce to rethink what she wanted to say to Willow.  
  
"What's going on here?"  
  
Joyce turned to find Giles behind her. She could also see Tara looking at them with concern. Joyce ignored the two and focused back on Willow. "I didn't mean it like that but you are upset with her. You blame her."  
  
A cool mask fell over Willow's features. "I just think that Buffy was wrong to automatically believe Riley and not Xander"  
  
"But what you have to understand Willow," Giles spoke out. "Buffy had to make a decision with only a marginal amount of information available and the only way to find out what really occurred was to go to the Initiative base."  
  
"So you're saying that it okay for Buffy to grab Xander and force him to go back there." Willow asked in loud voice.  
  
Giles took a deep breath, obviously trying to stay calm. "No Willow. All I'm saying is that regardless of her actions, Buffy did have the right idea."  
  
Willow snorted. "Sure. Escort Xander back to the people that kidnapped him in the first place."  
  
"That's assuming that Xander's version of the events were accurate," Giles countered.  
  
Anger danced in Willow's eyes but when she spoke, her voice was as cold as ice. "So you still believe Buffy then?"  
  
"Please stop fighting."  
  
The soft plea broke through the anger that was growing in the hallway. Everyone looked at the owner of the voice. "P-p-please stop." Tara pleaded, her eyes moist with unshed tears.  
  
Joyce could see guilt reflected in the faces of both Willow and Giles as they mumbled their apologizes to Tara and each other. "Willow," Joyce tried to get the young woman's attention. "What's done is done. Right now, instead of wasting our energies on fighting with each other, we should be concentrating on finding Xander before it's too late."  
  
At this point Giles spoke up. "Well at least the police have not found Xander yet," Noticing the questioning glances directed at him, Giles explained. "I was just on the phone with one of the Detectives and he was far from forthcoming about any recent news on Xander." Giles took his glasses off and nervously ran his free hand through his hair. "Joyce is correct though. We should try to find Xander before anything else unexpected happens."  
  
"Shouldn't we wait for Buffy to get back?" Joyce asked.  
  
"Yes, that would probably be best," Giles said. "We should see if Buffy found Xander or any information about his whereabouts first. Willow, do you think that you could..." Giles trailed off when he noticed Willow staring at the floor.  
  
Tara slipped past Giles and stopped next to Willow. Tara touched her friend's shoulder and asked in a soft voice. "Willow, what's wrong?"  
  
"I know where Xander is," Willow said in a quiet voice, drawing stares from everyone.  
  
Giles gazed at the bathroom that Willow just came from. Guessing what had occurred in that room, Giles fixed the young wiccan with a stern look. Willow looked up and met his eyes with a stern stare of her own. Giles was concerned about her unsupervised practice of magic. His main fear was that Willow will conjure up a force that she was unprepared for and end up hurt or worse. Giles just shook his head, deciding to leave that discussion for another time. "For the moment I'm going to overlook how you must have come about that information and just ask. Where is.."  
  
* * *  
  
"Xander?!"  
  
Buffy stared at Xander, shocked to see him there. She would've sworn that there was no one behind her but there Xander was, holding a smoking gun in his hand.  
  
Spike got to his feet, ignoring the pain from just being shot several times, and faced Xander. "Well look who's finally decided to show up." Spike gestured widely, in dramatic flair.  
  
Xander stopped halfway between Spike and Buffy, keeping his gun aimed at the vampire. "I thought I told you to leave Spike."  
  
"Why would I want to leave?" Spike threw back his arms and shouted out. "I love this town!"  
  
"Wrong answer," Xander said and fired his gun. The loud noise snapped Buffy out of her trance and she turn around in time to see Spike fall to the ground. The vampire was clutching at his right thigh.  
  
"Bloody hell!" The vampire grunted in pain and glared at Xander. "I meant what I said before. You will pay for this." Then Spike smiled evilly. "And thanks to you two, I can finally make good on that promise."  
  
Xander spared a glance at Buffy but kept his gun trained on Spike. "How the hell was he able to drain you. Last I knew, he couldn't bite anybody."  
  
"Why are you asking her Harris?" Spike stood back up, flexing his newly healed leg tentatively. "You're the one who beat me to a bloody pulp and made me insane with blood lust. If you hadn't done that, I would still be chipped."  
  
Buffy stared at Xander's face. She hoped to find any hint that would prove Spike was lying about Xander but her heart sank at the cool expression on her friend's face. Could she still call him her friend?  
  
"But like I said before," Spike looked meaningfully at Buffy. "That was nothing compared to what the wanker did to that ex-vengeance daemon.  
  
Buffy rounded on Xander. "What did you do to Anya?"  
  
Xander grunted, keeping his eyes locked on Spike. Xander responded in a flat voice. "I didn't do anything to her."  
  
"That's not what Spike said."  
  
Xander chuckled dryly. "And of course you'd believe him over me," Xander answered as he kept his weapon trained on Spike. "Now why does that sound familiar."  
  
Buffy's faced reddened in frustration. "This has nothing to do with Spike or Riley," she said, moving in front of Xander. "I saw Anya. She showed up at Giles' place looking devastated and her clothes were torn and dirty."  
  
"Not my problem."  
  
Buffy was stunned. "Not your problem?! Xander, she's your girlfriend!"  
  
"Not anymore," Xander said with a note of finality in his voice.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He said 'not anymore' Slayer," Spike broke in with a grin. "What? Are you deaf now as well as dumb?"  
  
"Shut up Spike!" Buffy snapped.  
  
"I don't think so," Spike replied. The vampire edged closer and pretended to whisper conspiratorially to Buffy. "See I told you, the boy has lost his bleeding marbles. Next thing you know, he'll start biting the heads off of little kittens."  
  
Xander just stared at Spike in disgust for half a second before shaking his head. "Why are you still here Spike?"  
  
Spike smirked. "I'm hurt. You sound as if you don't want me here."  
  
Xander's eyes narrowed. "Let me rephrase that. Why aren't you running yet?"  
  
Spike stood up and adopted an innocent pose. "Me? Run?"  
  
"It's what you do best, isn't it Blondie?" Xander taunted. "When Plan A fails, which it always does, you fall back on Plan B which is running. It's either that or you hide behind Drusilla's skirt."  
  
"Why you little-"  
  
"Stop!" Buffy shouted, moving in between Xander and Spike. "Spike, leave. Now."  
  
Spike looked at Buffy with a sneer on his face. "Do you really think that you can protect him from me?"  
  
Before Buffy could reply, Xander spoke up. "Don't you get it Spike?" Xander asked, slowly moving away from Buffy while keeping his gun pointed at Spike. "She's trying to protect you from me. She's always trying to protect vampires which is weird since it's her job to destroy them."  
  
Buffy became so infuriated at Xander that she turned away from Spike to face him. The Slayer, fully intending to unleash her anger on Xander, found herself being grabbed from behind and thrown into the air.  
  
* * *  
  
Xander watched Buffy's flight through the trees. He was surprised when Spike picked Buffy up and effortlessly threw into the night. The slight amazement on the vampire's face told Xander that this display of raw strength was new, even to Spike. Xander guessed that the Slayer blood coursing through Spike's system has dramatically enhanced all of his demonic abilities.  
  
Great. Just what I need. A Vampire high on Slayer   
  
Xander knew that Spike would be too much for him to handle alone. What he needed was a Slayer or two. Too bad one's in a coma, not that she would help me anyway, and I don't know if I could even trust the other one right now.   
  
Xander watched as Spike turned back to him. Knowing how limited his options were at that moment, Xander knew that unless he pulled a major trick out of his hat, he was done for. That was when he remembered about some of the items that he grabbed out of his stash at Father Michael's and an inkling of a plan started to form in the back of his mind.  
  
As Xander began to mentally catalog everything that he knew about Spike, a strong sense of calm blanketed his mind and he felt himself become detached. To Xander it felt like all his emotions were being drained from him, leaving his mind in a state of crystal clarity. All of the fear and anger that was clouding his thinking just disappeared.  
  
With this shift in attitude, Xander swiftly decide on a strategy that he normally wouldn't consider. Xander knew that outside of Spike's devotion to Drusilla, his arrogance was Spike's greatest weakness. Then Xander came up with a plan that would've been considered highly stupid and suicidal under normal circumstances.  
  
When Spike turned back around, Xander grinned widely at Spike.  
  
* * *  
  
When Spike turned back to Xander, he saw the boy wearing an almost insane grin. That freakish smile combined with the coldest pair of eyes Spike could ever remember seeing made him hesitate for a moment. The vampire recognized the look as that of a person that didn't care about their own personal welfare. The only thing that such a person cared about was whatever goal they were trying to accomplish and little else mattered.  
  
Twenty-four hours earlier and a look like that would've made Spike reconsider whatever he might be attempting to do at the time but that was when he was unable to physically hurt humans because the chip that the Initiative had inserted into his brain. But now, not only was he was free of the device but thanks to the Slayer's blood, he felt stronger than he's ever been before and that meant that he could do anything he wanted. The Big Bad was back and Spike wanted to teach the boy a lesson.  
  
Grinning, Xander brought the gun back up and fired, emptying the rest of his bullets in Spike's direction. The vampire managed to avoid the hail of gunfire by leaping high and over Xander, landing behind him. Spike then twisted around, delivering a solid punch to the back of the Xander's head knocking the young man to the ground.  
  
Unfazed, Xander scrambled to his feet. "Oh c'mon, my grandmother hits harder than that."  
  
Spike growled and wrapped his hands around Xander's throat but before he could snap the boy's neck, Xander fell backwards onto the ground. The sudden movement caught Spike off guard which Xander took full advantage of and pulled the vampire to the ground with him. Then in one fluid motion, Xander rolled to the side at the last second letting Spike fall face down onto the ground and then rolled back to straddle Spike's back. Xander grabbed Spike's hair and roughly yanked the vampire's head backward.  
  
"Hey Spike, is it just me or does this position seem familiar to you?" Xander asked, referring back to their fight in Spike's crypt. Spike growled deeply and pushed himself off the ground, bucking Xander off his back in the process. Xander rolled across the grass, coming to a stop on his hands and knees a few feet away.  
  
Spike quickly moved to kick Xander in the ribs but to Spike's surprise, Xander pushed himself up onto his knees and caught the vampire's foot in his hands. Then Xander grinned insanely at Spike and pulled a small black object from behind him. Spike heard a faint click followed by a crackling sound. Xander let go of vampire's foot and brought the small object up between Spike's legs.  
  
Spike had no time to think before his world was suddenly consumed by wave after wave of indescribable pain as his body convulsed. As sudden as the intense pain started, it stopped just as fast leaving Spike with a burning sensation in his groin.  
  
Xander pulled away from Spike then pushed the vampire from him. Spike stumbled backward on weak legs while Xander then got to his feet and watched as the vampire crouched down next to a tree, groaning.  
  
Xander just smirked. "It's amazing what one can order through the mail nowadays. I mean take this stun gun for example," Xander activated the stun gun, showing Spike the small bolts of electricity that arced between the metal prods sticking out of the end. "This baby gives out about sixty-five thousand volts but is still small enough to clip onto your belt." Xander then made a show of clipping the device to his belt.  
  
"Bloody wanker! I'm gonna rip you apart!" Spike was literally foaming at the mouth.  
  
Xander barked out a laugh. "You didn't think that I would actually let you wander around free once I found out that your chip wasn't working." Xander's grin turned feral. "Oh by the way, you might want to get that checked out," Xander pointed at Spike's groin. "I'm thinking that would be a very nasty place to get burned."  
  
Spike grimaced at the reminder but was instantly alert when he saw Xander begin to move out of the corner of his eye. Expecting Xander to attack, Spike tensed up but was surprised when no attack came. Instead Xander moved near one of the fallen commandos and picked up a discarded Initiative blaster.  
  
Turning around, Xander smiled at Spike and said. "Hey Spike. Don't you think it's about time for Plan B?"  
  
* * * 


	6. Chapter Six

Spoilers: Everything is fair game  
  
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.  
  
AN - Thanks to everyone who has given such positive feedback on this fic.  
  
Note - thoughts   
Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Six  
  
The inside of the Initiative was bursting with activity. Scientists were busy as they resumed their work on various daemons while technicians were scurrying from location to location in effort to the repair systems that were damaged in the incident concerning the civilian, Alexander Harris.  
  
Professor Walsh herself was overlooking the reconstruction of one of the surveillance stations that was destroyed. When she noticed Forrest Gates enter the compound with two of his men Walsh left the stations and waited for them to approach. "Agent Gates," Maggie said as Forrest and his men came to stop in front of her. "Were you able to aquire any useful intel on Mr. Harris from the owner of that.. establishment?"  
  
Forrest stared blankly for a second before responding. "No ma'am. The owner, Willy, didn't know much. He said that his only had contact with Harris was when he would come in with Summers. He said that he never had any personal contact with Harris."  
  
Walsh considered this as she took in the men's appearance. "It looks like you have been in a fight. Any problems, gentlemen?"  
  
"Just a couple of vampires ma'am. Since the bar was a very public place, I decided that capture would probably draw too much attention so I had my men take care of them."  
  
Walsh studied the men briefly, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Fine. For now, report to the infirmary. I want you and your men checked out."  
  
"Yes Ma'am!" Forrest barked out.  
  
Walsh nodded and walked off leaving the three men standing there. Forrest turned to his men and motioned them to follow Walsh's orders and go to the infirmary. When they left, Forrest proceeded to the nearest vacant computer station and started typing.  
  
* * *  
  
In the Lowell House, Riley was laying on his bed as he stared blankly at the ceiling. It has been several hours since his debriefing with Professor Walsh and he was feeling restless. Walsh had ordered him to stay away from the Buffy and her friends until this business with Harris was finished. Only there was one problem.  
  
Riley didn't believe that Buffy was safe as long as Xander was on the loose.  
  
"Screw this," Riley muttered, deciding to disobey his superior's orders. Riley left his room and made his way past the people enjoying themselves on the main floor. He passed through the party going on in his building, waving at some people that he knew but mainly ignoring everyone else. Riley even heard some of them were talking about where they wanted to go next as if they didn't have a care in the world. Shaking his head, Riley went out the front door.  
  
Riley's exit didn't go unnoticed. Two people, one at each end of the room, extracted themselves from the crowd and followed the blonde soldier. One of them, John Hess, roughly pushed people out of his way as he walked to the door. Stopping to look over his shoulder, John watched as his twin sister Jane effortlessly navigated her way through the mass of bodies from the other side of the room without any trouble.  
  
Jane stopped next to her brother. Tying her long, jet black hair into a pony tail, she looked at her brother. "Was that Finn?"  
  
"Yeah. He didn't look too happy though."  
  
"Probably something to do with the his girlfriend." Jane patted her jacket down, making sure that she had everything. "Well I suppose we-" Jane was interrupted by a loud ringing coming from inside her jacket. Pulling out her cell phone, she flipped it open and answered. "Yes?"  
  
[ Riley just left his room. ]  
  
Jane instantly recognized Maggie Walsh's voice. "Yes Ma'am. We just saw him leave."  
  
[ Follow him. He'll probably try to contact Summers. ]  
  
"And if he does?"  
  
[ Just follow, observe and report back to me. ]  
  
"Understood." Jane hung up and headed for the door, her brother following silently behind her.  
  
* * *  
  
Maggie Walsh sat back into her chair as she watched the security video of the two agents following Riley into the night. She was idly watching the rest of people in the building above the complex when a middle aged man in a white lab coat approached. "Professor Walsh?"  
  
Maggie turned away from the video screens. "Yes, Doctor Angleman?"  
  
"There is new information about the daemon you were inquiring about," he said, handing her a folder.  
  
Maggie opened the folder and sifted through the papers within. She stopped at one and studied it intently. "Are you sure that this information is accurate?"  
  
"The boys upstairs believe so," Doctor Angleman replied. "They also think that they have a possible location as well."  
  
"Good, this could be a prime subject for Project 314." Maggie said to herself, then closed the folder and turned to the man. "I'll have a team assembled for a SaC mission."  
  
"Who will head the team for the Search and Capture of this hostile?" the man asked.  
  
Walsh thought for a moment. Normally this type of mission would be headed by Riley Finn but right now, with current events as they are, Maggie didn't believe that Riley was in the right state of mind to be dependable. That left her with only one real choice. "I will assign Agent Forrest Gates to lead the team."  
  
* * *  
  
Father Michael was pacing among the pews of his church as he waited to hear from his young friend. He hadn't heard from Xander since the young man left and he was starting to become worried. A soft noise interrupted his thoughts. Looking at the church's entrance, Michael thought he saw someone standing outside. "Hello? Is anyone there?"  
  
Stepping closer, Father Michael thought he could hear giggling coming from the other side of the closed doors. Tentatively, he pulled one of the double doors open and a sense of deja vu washed over him. This brought memories of when he first met Xander and Michael hoped that he wouldn't find himself in a similar situation tonight.  
  
Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the night, Michael cautiously approached the steps in front of the church. His attention was drawn to a pair of tail lights belonging to a truck heading down the street. After finding no one else, Michael turned to re-enter the church. Before he got to the door, a hand shot out from behind him and clamped onto his shoulder.  
  
"Boo."  
  
Cursing out loud, Father Michael twisted around and thrust a cross at the intruder. The priest expected to be facing some kind of demonic hell beast and was surprised to find a young woman doubled over in laughter. Michael inched closer, still holding the cross before him and leaned down to see the woman's face. From behind the mass of shoulder-length brown hair, Michael saw an equally brown pair of mischievous eyes that he would know anywhere. Kayla! Michael shook with both anger and relief at the sight of his young friend.  
  
"Oh.. You should've.. seen your.. face. It was.. it was.." Kayla couldn't continue as a fresh wave of laughter erupted from within her.  
  
Father Michael stared sternly at the woman, waiting for his heart to calm down. "Kayla." he growled and the young woman looked up at him but whatever she saw in his face only caused her to burst out in a another wave of laughter. Michael knew that after dealing with Xander for the last couple of years, the only thing he could do was to wait for Kayla to settle down by herself or she'd never stop laughing.  
  
When Kayla did finally calmed down enough, she looked at the older man with an impossibly wide smile. "It's really great to see you Father."  
  
"Don't you mean 'scare me' Kayla?" he asked in a flat voice.  
  
Kayla adopted a thoughtful pose. "Well there's that too," Kayla watched as Father Michael's face hardened and she tried to placate him. "Aw, don't be like that. I was only having some fun," Kayla pouted.  
  
"I see, scaring an old man is fun especially in a town like this," he said with a wave of his hand to the neighborhood. "I swear you and Xander must share the same personality."  
  
At the mention of Xander, Kayla sobered up. "I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and steered him back into the church. "Why don't we go inside and you can fill me in on what Xander's been up to."  
  
Father Michael nodded his head in approval before checking the area in front of the building. "Where's your car parked?"  
  
"Don't worry. A friend dropped me off here. He'll be by later."  
  
"Is that wise this late at night?" Father Michael asked concerned.  
  
"It's okay, he can take care of himself," Kayla said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Turning back, Kayla began grilling the older man for information on what's going on with Xander as the two of them disappeared behind the closed door of the church.  
  
* * *  
  
Anya was tossing and turning on the couch inside of Rupert Giles' home. She subconsciously heard the quiet arguement that Giles had with Willow and Anya's anxieties skyrocketed when Willow mentioned that she knew where Xander was. Xander. The young man's name echoed endlessly in her mind. Anya's soft whimpers, that went unnoticed by the others, left little doubt that she was beginning a dream that would lead into a nightmare.  
  
In her dream, Anya found herself sitting on a large rock in the middle of a field of tall grass that was surrounded by trees. She had a strong feeling that she was being watched by something that was hidden among the trees. Something's wrong. Anya moved off the rock and started to wade through the waist high grass to the tree line. Anya didn't get far before she tripped over something hidden in the grass, landing hard on her hands and knees.  
  
"Are you okay?" Anya looked up to see Xander as he made his way to where she had fallen. His kind eyes shown brightly with a deep affection that made her feel warm inside. Reaching down, Xander pulled Anya to her feet. Then, taking one of her hands into his, Xander began to, ever so gently, rub the dirt off it. That action sent goose bumbs up her arm and spread along her back.  
  
"Yes," Anya softly replied as Xander brought her hand up and kissed her palm. His warm breath washed over her hand adding to the sensations already going through her. Anya closed her eyes, losing herself as the sensation of Xander's hands running over her hands and arms. When she felt a hand touch her legs, Anya looked down to find Spike laying on the ground between her legs.  
  
"Ready for the next round luv?" Spike asked.  
  
"What?" Confused, Anya looked to Xander but he just dropped her hand and turned his back on her. Anya reached out for her boyfriend but he shrunk away from her touch. "Xander? I -"  
  
Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she experienced flashes of her having sex with Spike. In these flashes, Anya felt this immense need for Spike. She had tried to fight the compulsion but the need, the hunger increased until she didn't have the strength to fight it anymore and finally succumbed to it.  
  
Anya squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to block out the images. Anya didn't know why she would want Spike like that but she couldn't control herself. It was if something was pushing her to take Spike. In the deep recesses of her mind, Anya thought she could hear laughter.  
  
"I can't believe you would hurt me like that," Xander said shaking Anya from her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see that Xander had turned around and was glaring at her with cold eyes.  
  
"I thought that you cared for me."  
  
Anya wanted to tell him that she did care. She wanted nothing more than for Xander to take her into his arms and tell her that it was all going be okay. That he forgave her and loved her but then she saw the expression that was on Xander's face. That look, so full of hurt and betrayal, stopped her from saying what she wanted to say. That she loved him.  
  
Xander waited impatiently for an explanation that she couldn't give. Xander shook his head in disgust. "Fine!"  
  
Xander grabbed her hands and tied them together with one end of a long piece of rope that appeared out of nowhere. He then dragged her by her hands until they reached a tall tree at the edge of the grassy field. Xander pulled her under the tree and threw the rest of the rope over a high, thick branch. Before she could get her bearings, Xander yanked hard on the other end of the rope, hoisting her up into the air. She begged him to stop but he just ignored her as he tied the rope to a stake in the ground.  
  
Looking down she could see that she was hanging less than a foot off the ground, her bare feet lightly brushing against the shorter grass that grew around the tree. From behind her, Anya thought that she had heard someone speaking in a deep whisper but when she twisted around, Anya found no one there.  
  
"Anya," She jerked in surprise when Xander said her name. She looked at Xander and he pointed down at her feet. Something under the ground was moving, causing several ripples of dirt and grass to appear. Her head whipped around her trying to follow each ripple as numerous things were moving underground in every direction.  
  
"What's down there?" she asked, fear evident in her voice.  
  
"Your punishment," was all Xander said before the ground collapsed to reveal thousands of bunny rabbits.  
  
"Nooooooooo!" Anya screamed as the rabbits swarmed over her feet.  
  
* * *  
  
Giles was waiting for Willow to reveal Xander's location when a scream erupted from behind him. Everyone rushed into the room to find Anya curled up at one end of the couch frantically brushing at her legs and feet. Giles grabbed the girl's hands in an effort to get her attention.  
  
"Get them off me."  
  
Giles held her hands apart. "Them? Anya there's no one on you."  
  
Anya looked up, noticing for the first time that she was at Giles' and everyone in the room was watching her. "Oh God, it was just a dream," Anya sagged in relief.  
  
"What was just a dream?" Willow asked but Anya just ignored the redhead as she anxiously looked around the room.  
  
Giles noticed the girl's nervousness but after listening as Anya talk in her sleep, Giles had to ask. "Anya, Did something happen between you, Spike and Xander?"  
  
Anya's eyes darted back and forth and meekly asked, "Is Xander here?"  
  
Joyce sat next to Anya and hugged her, feeling the younger woman's body shake. Joyce threw a worried look at Giles as she answered, "No Anya. Xander isn't here."  
  
Giles didn't miss Joyce's look which amplified his own growing feeling of dread. Anya had buried her face in her hands. Giles gently pulled her hands away revealing a sight that surprised him. Anya was crying. He couldn't remember ever seeing Anya cry before. "Anya, please tell us what happened."  
  
"Xander found me at Spike's and.." Anya shuddered and spoke with a voice that dripped with sadness. "we were having sex."  
  
Giles look around, taking in the shocked faces in the room. A detached part of him was thinking that aside from Anya's soft crying, the room was far too silent. That was until Giles saw the look on Willow's face.  
  
"Oh dear."  
  
* * *  
  
Everyone was still in a state of shock over Anya's revelation. Everyone but Giles as he stared at Willow.  
  
Giles saw the stony expression on her face but his attention was drawn to her eyes. He saw the color slowly bled from them until only blackness remained. It reminded him of Amy Madison during that awful love spell debacle. He could still see Amy's black eyes as Xander clamped his hand over the girl's mouth to keep her from casting a spell on Jenny Calendar.  
  
Moving quickly, Giles stood in front of Willow just as a shimmering wave of force flowed out of the wiccan. Giles met the wave head on and was frozen in place. Willow simply stepped around the immobile man and focused her sights on the ex-daemon. Joyce Summers stood up to block Willow but one glance from the smaller woman sent Joyce back down on the couch.  
  
Willow's black eyes flitted between Joyce and Giles for a second. Satisfied that neither would be able to stop her, Willow turned back to Anya only to find her path blocked once again. Willow's face changed from impassive to confusion when she realized who was before her. "Tara?"  
  
Tara nervously held her ground. She had felt a dark power rise up in Willow that scared her witless and while Tara didn't want to know what Willow was planning to do to Anya, she couldn't just stand by and let the first true friend she's ever had destroy herself. "W-W-Willow. Please d-don't do this."  
  
"Get out of my way Tara." Willow whispered.  
  
"No." Tara replied with a surprising amount of firmness.  
  
Willow raised her hand but Tara stood her ground. Determined to stop Willow from hurting herself or Anya, Tara clasped Willow's hand with one her own. To Tara's shock, she could feel the power that was fueled by the redhead's heated emotions flow into her. The sudden influx of energy threatened to consume Tara and she instinctively redirected the energy back through her connection with Willow.  
  
Willow's eyes widened as she felt her own power falling back into her. The energy filled almost to the breaking point before moving back through the girls' hands and into Tara. This feedback loop continued as the intensity of the energy grew.  
  
With Willow distracted, Giles found himself able to move once again. Glancing to the couch, Giles found both Joyce and Anya unharmed but what caught his attention was Willow and Tara. They stood face to face, each holding the others hand seemingly paralyzed while a red glow passed back and forth between the two. The girls' faces were screwed up in pain though neither uttered a sound and each time the glow centered on one of the girls, the brightness intensified. Giles grabbed the arms of both girls attempting to pull them apart.  
  
Anya recovered enough to shout a warning to Giles but was too late. The former Watcher was sent flying across the room, repelled by the energy holding the two Wiccans. Joyce went to check on Giles leaving Anya alone on the couch to stare at Willow and Tara.  
  
"Anya," Joyce yelled, getting the girl's attention. "Giles is unconscious. What can we do?"  
  
Anya turned back to the witches. The exchange of energy between the two sped up considerably after Giles tried to interfere. She knew that Giles had the right idea but he went about it all wrong. Some magiks can only be controlled with a trinity. Forgetting her pain and despair temporarily, Anya moved next to Tara and grasped her free hand in her left one.  
  
"Don't touch them Anya!"  
  
Anya heard Joyce's scream as she grabbed Willow's free hand in her right forming the connection with the other two. Instantly Anya was flooded with an immense power that threatened to tear apart her very being. The energies were wild and unfocused. Almost primal. The power that Willow had called upon was dark but what should have been a simple spell had changed into something more powerful than anything Anya had ever seen a mere mortal conjure.  
  
Tara changed it somehow. Amplified it. To Anya the rush of energy was intoxicating. She hadn't felt like this since before she became human. Bending her mind to the task at hand, Anya concentrated on the swirl of magical force the was coursing through the three of them.  
  
Anya knew that she had to find some way fast to release the energy soon before it ended up killing her along with Tara and Willow but she kept getting distracted by a small voice in the back of her mind. A voice that Anya remembered hearing as she ran from Xander. A voice that got stronger and louder with each pulse of energy that swept through her, demanding answers as to how she would betray Xander the way she did. A voice that screamed 'Why!'.  
  
Before Anya realized what was happening, the power surged one last time as it latched onto that plea and left her. Anya was dimly aware of her body falling as a numbing darkness swept over her.  
  
* * *  
  
Joyce was scared.  
  
Unable to stop Anya from joining with Willow and Tara, Joyce could only watch as all three girls were enveloped in a blood red haze. Joyce left Giles where he was and moved closer to the girls. Before Joyce got within a foot of the trio, she was blinded by a sudden bright flash of light. When her vision cleared, Joyce found Willow, Tara and Anya sprawled out on the floor.  
  
Joyce went to check on them and breathed a heavy sigh of relief at finding them alive. With everyone unconscious, the elder Summers sank down onto the floor next to Giles and looked about the room at a complete loss of what to do. "Oh Buffy. Where are you?" Joyce asked, wishing that her daughter was here.  
  
Unknown to Joyce, a robed figure had appeared inside the doorway of Giles' bedroom and was silently watching the group from the top of the stairs  
  
* * *  
  
"Uhhh.."  
  
Awareness came slowly to Buffy. She could feel a numbness in her arms and legs in addition to the intense pressure she felt on her stomach. Opening her eyes, Buffy found herself dangling over a thick tree branch, more than a dozen feet off the ground. A wave of vertigo instantly come over Buffy and she unconsciously lifted her hands up to her face. The simple action of lifting her arms shifted her weight on the tree limb. Before Buffy realized it, she slid over the side and landed hard on the ground.  
  
Not moving from where she landed, Buffy remained on her back and stared up at the night sky in a daze. Her hand shakily moved to her throat, feeling the large, wet fabric that was wrapped around her neck. She felt a sliver of fear enter her heart when looked down at her reddish colored hand.  
  
Buffy slowly climbed to her feet. Her body felt like one giant bruise, Buffy leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. She tried to lose herself in one of the meditations that Giles had tried to teach her, hoping that it would let her enhanced healing start to work on her body. An indeterminate time later a sound of a gun being fired off in the distance startling Buffy, reminding her of the fight that she was forcefully ejected from.  
  
Buffy looked around noticing for the first time that several broken tree branches littered the ground in one direction. Buffy gazed at the trees above and saw the jagged edges of broken tree limbs. Guessing that was the way she came, Buffy stubbornly pushed herself off the tree and even though she was physically if not emotionally exhausted, Buffy started jogging back the way she came.  
  
In Buffy's mind, time seemed to crawl to a snail's pace. Buffy could hear the growing sounds of fighting as she got closer and she was worried. Worried about Xander. No matter what was happening with Xander, Buffy didn't want him to get hurt and right now Xander was alone with a chipless Spike.  
  
Buffy heard a scream echo in the night causing her heart to beat faster. Fearing the worst, Buffy ran faster despite the exhaustion she felt. As she ran, an image of what Spike looked like in his crypt appeared in Buffy mind and she remembered Spike claiming that Xander did that to him. No. There's no way Xander could've done that.. to.. Buffy's thought trailed off as she skidded to a halt. Before her was a sight that she thought that she would never see. Xander holding his own in a fight with Spike.  
  
Xander had a small black box in one hand and an Initiative blaster in the other which he was continuously firing as he followed Spike around the clearing, leaving black scorch marks on trees or setting bushes and smaller plants on fire. Buffy watched as Xander managed to clip Spike a couple of times but they were glancing shots at best.  
  
But Spike did give as good as he got, tagging Xander pretty good with a solid punch to the stomach that Xander managed to roll with before touching Spike's arm with the black object he held in his hand. There was a brief crackling noise before Spike jerked his arm away from Xander and backed off.  
  
"What's the matter Spike? Afraid of a little electricity?" Xander asked.  
  
Electricity?   
  
Spike slowed down and began walking in a circle around Xander. "Just biding my time whelp. Your toys will run out of juice sooner or later," he snarled.  
  
Buffy found herself frozen to the spot unable to do anything but watch as the scene before her unfolded. Both Xander and Spike silently watched each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Buffy suddenly had a bad feeling when Xander lowered his weapon. Even Spike, confused at Xander's actions, slowed to a stop as he wondered at what the human was trying to do. He didn't have to wait long.  
  
Xander grinned impishly. "Hey Spike."  
  
"What," Spike answered warily.  
  
"Tell me something. If you're such a 'Big Bad', how come Drusilla dropped your ass for the first slime daemon she saw."  
  
"You little prat!" Spike snarled as he launched a powerful punch at Xander. A punch that missed only because Buffy had rushed forward and knocked Xander out of the way. Then she turned to Spike, delivering a back hand punch to the surprised vampire's face followed quickly by another punch and was soon trading blows with Spike. As the fight continued Buffy could feel her body tiring. Buffy believed that if she didn't find way to get Xander and herself away from Spike then there was a very good chance that they would die.  
  
* * *  
  
Marcus Tyler was seething with anger.  
  
"That Bitch," Marcus muttered. That was only the latest, and probably not the last, barb that he threw the Slayer's way since waking up alone in that crypt. Marcus had wasted a lot of time searching the area around the crypt for any clues as to where Summers or the vampire were and he probably would have given up if he hadn't heard the faint but unmistakable sound of a gun being fired echo in the night.  
  
More sounds erupted in the distance and it didn't take him long to recognize the electrical discharge of Initiative weaponry being fired. Now he was running, wondering that another team close by had come across his hostile or something else. Marcus slowed down when he heard a completely different sound coming from his left. Shining his light at the area, Marcus found a body of an Initiative soldier. Soft moans coming from the prone body told him that the person was alive.  
  
The crackle of electricity erupted from behind Marcus, startling the commando. He paused, indecision about leaving a wounded soldier behind. Running at his top speed, Marcus reached the area and found Buffy Summers fighting the same vampire that was feeding off her before. There was another civilian on the ground behind them and there was several bodies lying about. Marcus recognized their garments as standard Initiative uniforms. Carefully, Marcus withdrew his sidearm from it's holster and fired it up in the air.  
  
"STOP!"  
  
The civilian froze where he was but the vampire and Buffy continued to fight. Marcus went to the two soldiers closet to him and quickly checked for signs of life. Marcus' face was grim as he picked up a discarded blaster. Turning to the fight Marcus stared daggers at the vampire bring the weapon to bear. He raised the intensity of the blaster to it's highest level and fired. The blaster's energy arced forward, striking not the Slayer or Vampire but at the ground near their feet. Clumps of grass and dirt exploded outward, knocking both combatants to the ground.  
  
When the dust settled Marcus got a clear look at the newly healed vampire and with a shock, recognized him. Marcus immediately thumbed on his radio. "Base, this is Agent Tyler. I have an Alpha Blue emergency."  
  
[ What's your situation? ]  
  
"I have located Hostile 17 in Sector Nine. I also have five personel down; one unconscious, two dead and two unknown. Buffy Summers and a civilian are present also."  
  
[ Understood. A team is en route to your position for capture and quarantine. ]  
  
"Did ya hear that Spike?" the boy on the ground asked, laughing. "They're gonna take you back and put you in a leash so tight, you won't be able to hurt anything; dead or alive."  
  
"Shut up Harris!" Hostile 17 growled. "I'm free of that sodding chip and I'm going to stay that way."  
  
Harris? Marcus stared at the boy, surprised at his luck in finding both H-17 and C-36.  
  
Marcus turned his attention back to the vampire when it's words 'I'm free of that sodding chip' registered in his mind. If the chip that was implanted in Hostile 17's head is no longer functioning, that puts a whole new spin on this. To Marcus the recapture of Hostile 17 took precedence over recovering an escaped civilian.  
  
"Base, the civilian is C-36 and Hostile 17 is uncontrollable. I repeat; Uncontrollable."  
  
[ Understood. ]  
  
* * *  
  
Laying on the ground where she fell, Buffy was half-listening to the commando's conversation as her body tried to recuperate from all the injuries she's sustained today. But when Buffy heard the word quarantine mentioned, her mind instantly became alert, recalling a time from back before she knew about the Initiative.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
The lights were out as Buffy entered the hall of her building. Several Commandos wearing night vision goggles are wrestling with Spike in the hall in front of her dorm room. Spike slams one Commando into a wall. "It's on me!"  
  
Spike tries bite him but grabs his head in pain. "Aah!"  
  
"Move!" The commandos moved in on Spike. The vampire struggles but is eventually contained.  
  
"Bag it, tag it. We're gone. Sir, civilian. Could have turned." the commando said motioning to Willow sitting in the corner by her door.  
  
"Leave her."  
  
"We can't neglect quarantine, sir!"  
  
~Present~  
  
"Wait a minute." Buffy Summers faced the commando. "What exactly do you mean by 'quarantine'?"  
  
Marcus took a step backwards, keeping his weapon pointed at her. "Back up Summers. Now."  
  
Buffy simply stopped where she was. "Answer me."  
  
"Exactly what it sounds like," Xander spoke up. "A team will come in, capture a vampire or daemon and take along with any civilians in the area that might have been infected back to the Initiative. Isn't that right Agent Tyler?"  
  
Marcus nodded, "Which is where you're supposed to be Harris."  
  
Xander shrugged. "What can I say? The beds were uncomfortable, I mean you might as well be sleeping on the floor not to mention that the room service was terrible"  
  
Spike laughed. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Droopy here is wanted by you guys? Is there a reward?"  
  
Xander barked out a laugh. "Yeah Spike, They'll give you a new shiny chip for that sorry excuse for a brain of yours."  
  
"SHUT UP!" Buffy demanded, throwing a glare at both Spike and Xander before turning back to the commando. "Is Xander right? Do you guys capture regular humans too?"  
  
Marcus studied the Slayer for a second. "It's SOP that any possibly infected humans found in the vicinity of a capture are to be taken into custody just like your friend Harris was." Marcus then turned to Xander. "By the way, you managed to stir up a hornet's nest when you escaped. Walsh wants you back badly."  
  
Xander shrugged. "It's so nice to feel appreciated by your enemies if not by your friends."  
  
Buffy winced at the comment but kept attention on the commando. "Are you telling me that the Initiative took Xander against his will?"  
  
Xander snorted loudly as Marcus simply said, "It's Standard Operating Procedure for that type of situation."  
  
Buffy felt her heart clench. The whole scene with her, Riley and Xander flashed in her mind leaving her lost in a swirl of emotions. What Xander had said to Riley the other night echoed in her mind. ('I was captured and brought to your base. Then I was put through God knows how many tests. Now I'm being hunted like a dog just because I don't like to be held against my will.')  
  
Xander was telling the truth.   
  
Buffy coudn't believe that Riley would lie to her. Angry tears started to fall but then she remembered what Xander had said to her. ('I told you what happened and I did my best to get here and warn you that Riley was going to be lied to by his Army buddies. I'm trying to save you a lot of grief when you learn the truth of what happened.')  
  
Guilt caused by the irony of that last statement overwhelmed Buffy. Xander had come to help her and Riley that night but she didn't want to believe him and now things were all wrong. She had fought with Xander and with Willow straining both friendships. Even though Buffy wished that she could go back and do things differently, a small voice in her mind kept reminding her that something about Xander was different. That Xander's sudden ability to fight was not normal.  
  
So wrapped up in her emotions, Buffy barely heard Xander as he spoke to Spike. "Wow, just when you thought dealing with me was bad enough, now you have to deal with both the Slayer and the Initiative also. Your night keeps getting worse and worse doesn't it Spike."  
  
"I hate to spoil your fun but," Marcus said, preventing Spike from responding. "I'm taking both you and the Hostile 17 back."  
  
"Like hell you are." Both Xander and Spike said at the same time. Both the human and the vampire glared at each other then Xander grinned. "Awww. Is poor widdle Spikey afraid of the big bad commando?"  
  
"That's it wanker!"  
  
Spike tackled Xander to the ground. He pinned Xander's arms to the ground and was just about to bite him when he was dragged off of Xander by his feet. Twisting around, Spike freed his right leg but found the other firmly held in Buffy's grasp. Spike yanked his leg away from Buffy and then, using the same leg, kicked her in the gut. Buffy staggered back several feet which gave Spike time to get up.  
  
Marcus watched as the two stared at each other like two tom cats fighting over territory. It didn't matter to him if they fought since it kept them here. He knew that it wouldn't take long for a team to get here from the base. Sooner if there was a team already in the field.  
  
* * *  
  
Riley moved quietly from graveyard to graveyard hoping to either find his girlfriend or relieve some serious stress on the local undead. So far he had managed to eliminate a couple of fledglings but he didn't know where Buffy was.  
  
Not wanting to give up just yet, Riley decided to call Willow for help. He was just pulling out his cell phone when it shrilled loudly in his hand. Riley stared blankly at it for a few seconds as shivers of dread went up and down his spine. "Finn."  
  
[ Riley. ]  
  
Graham. Riley felt himself relax a little, but only a little. "Yeah Graham. What's up?"  
  
[ Just wanted to let you know that one of our people found your girlfriend in Sector Nine and she was fighting with Hostile 17. ]  
  
"The chipped vampire that escaped? Well Buffy shouldn't have any problems -"  
  
[ You're wrong. Reports say that the chip isn't working. ]  
  
Riley gripped the phone hard. "What do you mean Hostile 17's chip isn't working?"  
  
[ The agent that called it in witnessed H-17 made it very clear that the vampire was uncontrollable and that's not all. At least two of our people are dead. ]  
  
"Damn! What does Professor Walsh plan to do?"  
  
[ She doesn't know yet. I wanted to let you know first before I reported to her. ]  
  
Riley thought for a moment. "You said they're in Sector Nine?"  
  
[ Yeah, the east end, near the cemetery entrance. ]  
  
"I'm not far from there. I'm heading over there now." Riley hung up, running at full speed.  
  
When Riley disappeared into the night a man and a woman walked out from behind a large headstone. "Hostile 17," John said to his sister.  
  
"This could be interesting," she replied with a smile and they both moved to follow Riley.  
  
* * *  
  
Elsewhere, a dark room was suddenly flooded with light as a door opened revealing two men and a woman.  
  
"No," One of the men spoke in an exasperated tone of voice that indicated that this was an old arguement. The man turned on lights in the room as he strode towards a desk. "Sunnydale is off-limits for now. Ray isn't taking you or anyone else back there tonight."  
  
The other man stood off to the side as the woman followed the first man. "But my dear boys are having fun without me and I want to play." The woman whined, stamping her foot like a little girl.  
  
"I said no." the man sternly spoke as he picked up the phone off the desk. He dialed a number and waited for the line to be picked up. "Sir, everything is set up in Sunnydale... Yes, that group will be under your control soon... Yes sir, I'll ask her." The man cupped the phone in one hand and turned back to his companions only to find himself alone in the room.  
  
"Damn!"  
  
He set the phone down and dashed into the hallway. Finding it empty, he walked back inside the room and reached for the phone. He waited a second to calm down before speaking. "Sir, we may have a problem."  
  
* * * 


	7. Chapter Seven

Spoilers: Everything is fair game   
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.   
AN - Thanks to everyone who has given such positive feedback on this fic.   
AN II - The first section of this follows directly from the end of the last part.   
Note - _thoughts_   
  


Choices We Make

  


Chapter Seven

  
  
The dark-haired man stood by his desk, holding the phone to his ear as he waited for his boss to respond. Several seconds went by in silence before a low raspy voice spoke.   
  
[ What do you mean by problem? ]   
  
"Well Sir, I believe that insane vampire you sent with me to Sunnydale has decided to go back against your wishes."   
  
[ I see. I guess it was unavoidable considering her ties to certain individuals in that town. Unfortunately this does mean that we'll need to speed up our time table. ]   
  
"Is that wise Sir?" he asked.   
  
[ I don't see how it can be avoided. ]   
  
"Do you want me to approach him now?"   
  
[ Yes. ]   
  
"What about the vampire?"   
  
[ Don't let her interfere with your task but leave her alone for now. She still has a role to play. ]   
  
"I understand," he said before hearing the click of the other person hanging up. After returning the phone to it's cradle he sat down at the desk and turned on the desk lamp. He then opened one of the desk's drawers and pulled a thin folder. Flipping open the folder revealed a picture of a young man with brown hair with a half-smile curling his lips. He studied the picture for a second before buzzing for his assistant.   
  
"Grace, find me the current location of our young friend, Alexander Harris."   
  
* * *   
  
Xander calmly watched as Buffy and Spike fought. Each one scoring hits that easily could have been blocked or avoided even though Spike managed to land more blows than Buffy did. Xander could see that Buffy wasn't going to last much longer.   
  
Even Spike was starting to slow down considerably which made Xander happy. That meant that his earlier comment about Spike being high on Slayer was proving to be true. Like any drug, the faster a person processes it, the quicker it gets burned from the body and at considering all the fighting that Spike has done tonight, he should be clean before sunrise.   
  
_If I let him live that long._ Xander thought darkly.   
  
Xander also kept the commando, Tyler, in his field of vision. He wasn't too worried about the Initiative soldier but with reinforcements on their way, he didn't have time to play around.   
  
"Hey soldier boy," Xander spoke up. "I got ten bucks that says that Spike's gonna lose."   
  
The Agent wouldn't respond but that didn't stop Xander. Pulling a ten dollar bill from his pocket, he walked closer to the soldier only to stop a few feet away when Tyler pointed his weapon at him. "Whoa. Settle down pilgrim. I just wanted to know if you wanted to place a friendly wager. That's all."   
  
"Just sit back down C-36. A team will be here soon to take both you and the vampire into custody."   
  
"Let me clue you in onto something Sparky," Xander said, not bothering to sit down. "He's a Vampire. She's a Vampire Slayer. There really is only one way for this situation to end."   
  
"My friends will be here long before it gets that far." Tyler replied confidently.   
  
"I seriously doubt that," Xander said. "In fact, Spike just got dusted."   
  
Marcus turned his attention away from the boy and back to the fight. From of confidence in Xander's voice, Tyler was half expecting to see Buffy standing above a pile of ashes but instead he found that it was the vampire who actually had the upper hand standing over Agent Finn's fallen girlfriend. "What the-"   
  
That single moment of distraction was what Xander was waiting for. Tucking into a ball, Xander dove forward and collided with Tyler's legs, knocking the soldier to the ground. Getting to his knees quickly, Xander reached across Tyler and wrestled the gun from his hands. Then he pivoted around on one knee and fired at Spike.   
  
Three shots rang out. Two struck the vampire first in the thigh and then in the shoulder. The sudden pain in his shoulder and leg caused Spike to tip backwards and fall to the ground. Because of this, Xander's third shot passed just before Spike's eyes, actually nicking the bridge of his nose before disappearing into the night.   
  
With one opponent down, Xander flipped the gun around so that he was holding it by the barrel. He then whipped back around and slammed the butt of the gun against the side of Marcus' head, rendering him unconscious. Xander took a second to stare at the gun in his hand before moving Tyler onto his back and inspected the damage area where he had struck the man's head. There was some discoloration but Xander was relieved that he didn't hit him hard enough to kill him.   
  
Buffy was stunned. She sat there on the ground in silence as she watched Xander take the commando out with ease after forcing Spike away from her. Then Xander reached down and felt around the side the soldier's head and sighed in relief. Even from where she was, Buffy could easily see the artery in the soldier's neck pulse with every heartbeat but it was Xander's reaction that filled Buffy with hope for the chance to get her friend back.   
  
A groan to her right startled Buffy. She cursed under her breath for momentarily forgetting about Spike as he laid just a few feet away from her, recovering from being shot. she thought, dazed as her mind replayed what happened. Buffy had suffered from a bout of dizziness and she blacked out for a second. The next thing she knew Spike leaning down over her and saying that he was going to do what Angelus never could when, for the second time that night, Xander shows up with guns blazing and forces Spike off her.   
  
Buffy didn't really know what to think. All she knew for sure was that she was tired. Plain and simple, both physically and emotionally. She found herself no longer caring about her problems with Xander. To herself, she admits that, she was probably too quick to judge Xander and now she just wanted to get him safely back to Giles' place and then sleep for a week.   
  
"Harris!!" Spike bellowed, startling Buffy. "I'm getting bloody tired of you shooting me."   
  
"And what are you gonna do to stop me?" Xander asked, checking Tyler's body before pulling a spare ammo clip from one of the unconscious soldier's many pouches. "Use foul language?" Xander ejected the spent clip from his gun and slapped a fresh one in. Then Xander calmly chambered the first round as he slowly walked to where Spike was laying on the ground.   
  
The ease of which Xander handled the gun reminded Buffy of the Halloween they were possessed by their costumes. How because of a simple toy gun that Xander bought from Ethan, her friend had spent most of the night as a military soldier. And just like that night, Xander radiated a confidence of a man that would do whatever he had to without a moments hesitation. That frightened Buffy because it meant that she didn't know this Xander and wasn't familiar with what he might do. Unsteadily, Buffy got to her feet as Xander walked over to Spike.   
  
"Well Spike, I think it's time we continued our little game of cat and mouse. What do ya say. I'll even give you ten second head start just to be fair."   
  
Spike struggled to stand up. "Come closer and I'll finish our game permanently."   
  
"I hate to disappoint ya Blondie but that ain't gonna happen because his friends," Xander pointed at the fallen Agent Tyler. "will be here soon to take you back."   
  
"Oh please," Spike sneered. "they got lucky before but not this time. I-"   
  
"Won't be caught with you pants down?" Buffy asked sweetly, deciding to get into the conversation. After the beating she had today from Spike, she wanted to get a few more of her own shots in. She also wanted to stay close to Xander in case she had to take matters into her own hands.   
  
Spike took a threatening step towards Buffy. "Stay out of this Slayer."   
  
"Sorry, I can't do that Spike," Buffy replied. "But I'll let you guess what I will do." Buffy delivered two round house punches to Spike's face that sent the vampire stumbling backwards. When Buffy moved to finish Spike off, Xander stopped her be grabbing her wrist.   
  
"No you don't Slayer. He is my kill." Xander said as he firmly held her wrist.   
  
Buffy pulled free and faced Xander. "YOUR KILL?!" Fears that Xander wasn't himself anymore resurfaced. "Are you even listening to yourself? You're starting to sound like when you were possessed by the hyena."   
  
Xander just calmly watched Buffy, not bothering to answer.   
  
"Xander," Buffy stopped briefly to calm her temper. She now understood that anger was not the way to deal with Xander. She needed cool down and try to reason with him. To make him see that he needed help. "Forget about Spike. We've got to get you to Giles and figure out how to deal with Riley's people."   
  
"I'm not going to Giles or anywhere else with you."   
  
"Xander -"   
  
"No," Xander backed away, slashing the air in front of him with his right hand. "I told you before that I'm done with you so leave me alone."   
  
Buffy felt her anger rise again. "If you're done with me then why did you stop Spike from attacking me?"   
  
Xander just stared at her with emotionless eyes. "Because the town needs protection and too many people would probably die while we had to wait for a new Slayer to come."   
  
That cold, calculated answer froze Buffy to the bone. Never before has he shown such callousness about her life. As if her being killed was an inconvenience at best. It cut Buffy deeper than she would ever admit, even to herself. Deep inside a memory came to the surface. It was back in their first year together. Amy, or as they found out later was her mother, had cast a deadly spell on Buffy.   
  
To save her, they had to find the witch's spell books or cut off her head. Buffy remembered Xander's opinion on the matter.   
  
**~~flashback~~**   
  
"Well, how do we reverse the spell?" Xander asked.   
  
"Well, I-I've been researching that." Giles said. "And, um, we can reverse all the spells if, um, we can just lay our hands on - on Amy's spell book."   
  
"And if we can't get a hold of it?" Willow asked.   
  
"Well, the other way is to, uh, cut the witch's head off."   
  
"Show of hands." Xander said, raising his own.   
  
"It's not Amy's fault," Buffy stated. "She only became a witch to survive her mother."   
  
"Look, I don't care why. I just care that you go on breathing." Xander replied wholeheartedly.   
  
**~~present~~**   
  
_And now he doesn't._ Buffy thought, furiously scrubbing her eyes as tears threatened to fall. Back then, she had disregarded Xander's feelings mainly because of the seriousness of the moment and then forgot all about what Xander said until now. Deep down, Buffy had known that no matter what was happening, Xander and Willow would always be there for her and until now, she never realized the comfort she'd taken from that simple fact. "Xander, please don't do this. we've been friends for years and -"   
  
Xander's eyes darkened and his face became stone. "Yet you threw that away when you decided to believe someone you've know for less than a year over me."   
  
Buffy winced. "Okay, maybe I was wrong in the way that I handled your arguement with Riley but I couldn't think of any other way to stop you. You weren't acting like yourself and I thought that something had happened to you. Can't you see that I was worried about you!?"   
  
Xander studied Buffy for a second before motion behind her caught Xander's attention. "What I see Slayer," Xander said. "is you letting Spike get away."   
  
Buffy looked over her shoulder, realizing that the vampire was indeed gone. "Spike is the least of our worries right now. The police are looking for you also. They think that you snuck onto the base to steal weapons or something."   
  
Xander raised an eyebrow at the mention of police. "They actually know about the Initiative?"   
  
"No, the Army base. You remember, the one where you got the rocket launcher from to use against the Judge."   
  
Xander just shrugged but otherwise kept his expression neutral. The local law enforcement didn't worry him that much. What really concerned Xander was how the police learned about his little field trip during his junior year. _There's no way that Walsh could even know about that unless someone in the group told Riley that story._ Xander glared darkly at the petite blonde standing before him before moving to go after Spike.   
  
Buffy shivered inside at the look on Xander's face but despite that, Buffy still grabbed his arm when he tried to leave. Xander stopped and looked down at her hand, then he raised his eyes until they locked onto Buffy's. "Let. Go."   
  
"No Xander, I'm taking you to Giles."   
  
Xander yanked his arm free and quickly captured Buffy's hand. With surprisingly little effort on his part, Xander had twisted her arm up and around her neck. The sudden movement caught Buffy by surprise which let Xander pull her in close with her back to him. Then he roughly pushed her up against a tree.   
  
"Xander?!" her voice faltered slightly.   
  
Leaning in close, Xander spoke softly but firmly. "You are not taking me anywhere Slayer. Not to Giles or the Initiative and you are NOT staking Spike. That. Pleasure. Is. Mine."   
  
The cold tone of Xander's voice sent shivers down Buffy's back. "You can't do that Xander. If you didn't notice, Spike can hurt humans now and if the only way I can keep you safe is to stop you. Then I will."   
  
"Actually right now you can't. You're too weak, whether you want to admit it or not."   
  
Buffy struggled within Xander's grip. The pain of having her arm wrapped around an already tender neck was draining on her. She was growing tired of trying to make Xander see reason "Let go of me Xander. Don't make me hurt you."   
  
Before Xander could reply, a new voice started both of them.   
  
"Let her go Harris!"   
  
Xander looked behind him and saw Riley. "Well, well, well. Look who showed up. If it isn't Major Mistake."   
  
"I said, let her go." Riley repeated.   
  
Buffy twisted around Xander and saw her boyfriend charging at them. "Riley, don't!"   
  
Buffy's desperate plea stopped Riley in his tracks. He was literally shaking in anger, having just arrived to watch Xander shove his girlfriend up against a tree. Then he saw the bodies of fallen Initiative soldiers strewn across the ground like so much garbage. Riley knew that they couldn't trust Harris and now he had the proof.   
  
Frustrated, Riley watched as Xander turned around with Buffy held tightly in his grasp. His anger spiked as Buffy moved into the moonlight. Dark blood stains had covered most of her clothes and there was an equally bloodied piece of material wrapped around her neck. "What did you do to her?" Riley demanded, staring daggers at Xander.   
  
"Xander didn't-"   
  
"Invite you to this party." Xander cut her off. "And unless you want an instant replay of our last get together, I would suggest you go home. Maybe Walsh will tuck you in like a good little boy and kiss you good night."  
  
Riley's jaw clenched at the taunt. "There's no way I'm leaving Buffy alone with the likes of you."   
  
"The likes of me?" Xander was silent for a second before letting a soft chuckle escape. Xander held Buffy firmly in front of him as he considered the situation. Deep inside, Xander had felt the urge to hurt Buffy, and now Riley, for interfering his hunt but with more Initiative on the way, he simply didn't have the time to play around. Looking down at Buffy, an idea came to Xander. An idea that would keep both Buffy and Riley out of his hair for a while.   
  
"Riley," Buffy looked at her boyfriend from within Xander's grasp. Things were getting out of control and she knew that she had to try and stop the train wreck that was happening. "Xander didn't do anything to me. It was Spike."   
  
"Spike?"   
  
"She means Hostile 17." Xander shook his head in disgust. " I swear they'll let anyone into the military nowadays."   
  
"Listen Harris-"   
  
"Shut up CUB." Xander said. He pushed a startled Buffy away but kept her between him and Riley. "Right now I have a bone to pick with Spike and I don't have the time to play with you."   
  
Knowing that Xander was going to go after Spike, Buffy turned and once more grabbed the brunette by his arm. "Don't go Xander. Spike will kill you."   
  
Xander calmly stared at her. His gaze shifting slightly between Riley and Buffy. He knew that Buffy was not at the top of her game and that gave him the edge he needed. "And who's gonna stop me?" Xander asked. "You?"   
  
"If I have to."   
  
Xander stared at her for a moment, then raised his left hand up and cupped her cheek. Buffy was so surprised by the gentle gesture that she didn't notice Xander reach behind his back and pull the stun gun from his belt. She heard Xander say in a soft voice, "No, you won't." He then took his hand away from her face and brought the small taser up to Buffy's left arm, sending a massive charge of electricity into her.   
  
Both Xander and Riley watched as Buffy's body seized up for a very long second before collapsing into Xander's arms.   
  
Xander returned the taser to his belt at the small of his back. Then he knelt down and gently laid Buffy on the ground. Hearing footsteps, Xander managed to look up just in time to see Riley's foot connect with his face. Xander fell backwards from the force of the blow but quickly scrambled to his feet. He expected Riley to continue his attack but found the soldier hovering over his girlfriend instead.   
  
"Riley."   
  
The blonde looked up with hatred in his eyes. "I will kill you."   
  
"I don't think so. Not if you want her to stay alive." Xander said, pointing at the prone Slayer   
  
Riley stood up at the perceived threat. "What. You're gonna kill Buffy if I don't let you go?"   
  
"No but if you leave her defenseless while you try to catch me, I can guarantee that if there any vampires still in the area, they will take a shot at her."   
  
At that implied threat, Riley took his eyes off Xander to look around for any vampires. The few seconds that passed as Riley's attention was elsewhere, was all Xander needed to slip away. When Riley turned back, Xander was nowhere in sight.   
  
"HARRIS!" Riley screamed into the night.   
  
A soft moan from one of the fallen soldiers distracted Riley from his anger. He moved the soldier onto his back and did a cursory check for injuries. Recognizing the agent, Riley said, "Just stay still Marcus. There's a team on the way." Riley then moved to his girlfriend.   
  
She was alive to his relief, just unconscious. He noted the numerous injuries that were visible and fearing the ones he couldn't. Riley quickly scooped Buffy up into his arms and started in the direction of help or at least the help from the only person that Buffy would probably feel most comfortable with. Rupert Giles.   
  
Riley looked once more at Marcus Tyler. The soldier was still flat on his back but Marcus was now gingerly feeling the side of his head. Confident that the retrieval teams were close by, Riley decided it should be safe enough to leave Tyler on his own.   
  
* * *   
  
Two figures stayed in the shadows, watching as Riley carried Buffy away.   
  
"What do you think John? Should we follow Finn?"   
  
John looked at his sister. "No. Finn's probably taking Summers back to the base. The capture of H-17 and C-36 is more important to Mother."   
  
Jane nodded in agreement and both siblings moved to follow Xander. What they didn't notice was that they weren't the only ones that were watching. Farther back in the darkness, a pair of luminous eyes followed the twins. After they left, a dark-haired female vampire emerged from the shadows and walked among the commandos. She stopped next to Marcus as he started to sit up and slapped him hard in the face. The force from the blow left Marcus in a daze which allowed the vampire to easily pick him up.  
  
"There, there. Soon mommy will make all better," The vampire said as she carried him like a baby into the woods.   
  
When a team of commandos showed up just a few seconds later, Marcus Tyler was nowhere to be found.   
  
* * *   
  
Xander had ran only a short distance before coming to a halt. Then he closed his eyes and knelt down on one knee. Placing one hand flat on the ground, Xander willed his senses to open up, patiently inspecting every bit of information that filtered into his mind.   
  
What stood out most to Xander was the sound of crickets. The little insects were so loud to his ears that he could barely hear himself think. Concentrating on the crickets, they seemed to cover the entire area except... a little to his left. The volume of the noise was lower, as if the insects were disturbed from their nighttime song. _Maybe disturbed by a vampire running past them._   
  
That was all Xander needed. Pushing himself off the ground, Xander turned to his left and started running.   
  
He hadn't gotten far before a loud screeching noise could be heard in the distance. That noise sounded to Xander a lot like the brakes on a car that was being forced to stop. With a feral grin, Xander ran faster in the direction of the sound.   
  
A short time later, Xander passed through the cemetery gate entrance and saw a mid-sized SUV parked sideways in the middle of the street with the driver side door left open. A little further beyond the vehicle were two men, one circling the other. The one he didn't recognize was standing his ground but Xander knew the one that was walking around him. "Spike."   
  
* * *   
  
Spike was not having a good night.   
  
It had started off good with him having sex, with Anya of all people, but after that it all went downhill. First was Harris getting the drop on him which irritated Spike to no end. Then he had to deal with the Slayer and even though he did get a nice snack out of her, Spike couldn't remember much of it thanks to the blood lust he was in, but he knew someone had stopped him from draining the Slayer completely but not who.  
  
Afterwards Spike found himself wandering around and stumbled across a group of commandos. He had attacked them out of instinct and was surprised when he didn't feel any pain from the chip the Initiative had implanted in his head. Spike could now killed humans pain-free and he enjoyed himself immensely.   
  
Then he had to once again deal with Buffy and a suddenly, gun happy Harris. Spike managed to ditch them only to be nearly run over as he was leaving the cemetery. Figuring that he had seen the last of the Slayer and her lap dog for the night, Spike decided to have some fun so he pulled the driver from the vehicle and threw him across the street. Spike was surprised to see the man calmly stand back up, unhurt, and then come after him. Spike punched the human hard in the face. The man, barely fazed by the blow, simply smiled back at the vampire.   
  
Frustrated, Spike threw a second punch. The man simply raised his arm up and blocked the punch. Then the man batted Spike's arm away and grabbed the vampire by the neck. With a single punch, the man sent Spike flying across the street. That one punch made the vampire realize that this wasn't an ordinary human, as he tried to shake off the effects of that solid right hook. When the man stayed in the middle of the street, Spike began to circle his opponent as he thought about what to do next. That was when he heard a familiar voice.   
  
"Spike."   
  
His name wasn't spoken very loudly but the vampire heard it all the same. Turning around, Spike saw the one person that he seriously wanted to rip apart. Spike watched as Xander leaned against the SUV's front bumper. Xander held his gun at his side while casually pointing at Spike with his free hand, mimicking the action of firing a gun.   
  
Spike moved slightly to kept an eye on both Xander and the obvious non human he was just fighting. Then Xander pushed off the vehicle and walked leisurely towards Spike. At the same time, the other man did began walking to him too. With a growl, Spike backed away from both men and ran.   
  
Both men gave chase, staying relatively close to the vampire. Xander was about to shoot at Spike when a unknown man appeared from out of nowhere, right in front of the vampire. Spike stopped as the man held his hands up and exchanged words with him. Whatever the man said visibly cheered Spike up, who then turned around and waved at Xander before being surrounded by a cloud of smoke. When the smoke faded, both Spike and the mystery man were gone.   
  
Xander stared at the spot where Spike disappeared for a while before rearing back and screaming out his frustration. His outburst was cut short at the sound of a bored, female voice.   
  
"Well brother, it looks like we'll have to settle for returning just C-36 to Mother."   
  
Xander twisted around and saw was two people; one was a well muscled man and at his side was a lithe young woman. They looked to be the same height but the man had to be more than fifty pounds heavier than the woman. Both had similar features and dark hair; his was short while hers was gathered up into a long pony tail. "Who are you and what do you want?"   
  
The woman stepped forward. "My name's Jane and this is my brother John. As for what we want, well we were gonna take you and the HST back to Mother but since the vampire has escaped, I guess that we'll have to settle for bringing back your mangy hide."   
  
"Mother?" Xander asked, perplexed. Then what Jane called Spike hit him. 'HST'. The only people to use that term was the Initiative.   
  
Jane just ignored Xander's question and turned to her brother. "Of course we should take the quiet one in also. Mother would be interested in a human that can easily go one on one with a vampire."   
  
_Quiet one?_ Xander thought, remembering the guy that Spike was fighting. Turning around, Xander was startled to find that the man was standing right next to him. Xander took a moment to get a good look at him. The man was his height, dress casually in dark jeans and a T-shirt. His dark hair was pulled tightly in a ponytail and in the dim light of the street, Xander thought that the guy looked like what he thought a professional hitman would look like.   
  
"You two are coming with us," Jane said. "The only choice you have is whether we do this the easy way.."   
  
"Or the hard way," John finished, cracking his knuckles.   
  
Xander's temper rose. Not only did Spike manage to escape but now he has a new pair of Initiative idiots that think that they could take him in. Xander wanted to throw his head back in laughter over the audacity of these people but he knew that he couldn't lose control here. His anger would have to be put on the back burner and deal with the situation calmly. Taking looked at the stocky man beside him. "What do you think Mr...."   
  
"Chance."   
  
"First or last name?"   
  
"Yes," Chance simply said.   
  
Xander just chuckled. "Name's Xander. So what do you think? Easy or hard?"   
  
Chance raised an eyebrow for a second. Xander thought he saw something in the man's eyes but it faded away, leaving an almost bored expression on the man's face. Then Chance just shrugged, obviously not caring one way or the other about it.   
  
Xander copied the shrug and decided to wait for the others to act first. He didn't have to wait long before Jane was on the move. She quickly raced towards him with a speed that clearly wasn't human. She was in front of him before he could react and launched a haymaker of a punch at his face. Xander barely had time to try and roll with Jane's punch. He managed to lessened the force behind the blow but it was still powerful enough to send him flying. Xander landed a few feet away and rolled into a crouching position.   
  
He took a second to see Chance trading blows with the other guy. Xander guessed that they were evenly matched since neither one seemed to be able to gain an advantage over the other. Xander turned his attention back to his own opponent just as Jane's hands wrapped around his neck. She then lifted Xander off the ground and threw him high over her head and into a telephone pole. Xander grunted from the impact and fell to the ground, dropping his gun.   
  
Wincing from the pain, Xander climbed to his feet. He watched Jane as she paced back and forth in front of him like a wild cat waiting to right time to go for the kill. Xander knew that he had made a very major mistake. The same mistake that Spike and the others had made in regards to him. He had underestimated the woman before him. Plain and simple. Her speed and strength made it was clear that she was more than human. With that one throw she had managed to really hurt him. Cracked two ribs if he wasn't mistaken. Xander was just glad that he wasn't spitting up blood right now.   
  
"You might as well give up C-36," Jane said, sniffing the air. "I can smell the hurt inside of you. Did I break you against the pole?"   
  
Shifting slightly, Xander barely had time to think before Jane closed the distance between them and planted her right fist just under his rib cage. Pain exploded in his abdomen. That plus the pain from his ribs caused something to snap in his mind. A numbing feeling descended over Xander freeing him from all emotion and all his pain was pushed aside. He could still feel it but it no longer overwhelmed him. .   
  
Without the overbearing sensation of pain, Xander was able think clearly. He was injured and was in no condition to fight someone stronger and faster than him. Despite that, he couldn't let Chance face the two by himself so he needed to take out his opponent. What he needed was an edge and then a idea came to him. But for that to work he would have to get very close to her.   
  
"You can smell the hurt in me? What are you, a dog?"   
  
Jane growled then spun around and delivered a snap kick to the side of his head. She watched in satisfaction as Xander fell to the ground. Then, to her shock, Xander simply stood up and turned back to face her with a sneer on his lips.   
  
"Not just any dog, you're a bitch. I think it's about time that someone taught you some obedience." Xander said as he reached for the taser behind his back.   
  
Jane bristled at the remark and tackled Xander. Both fell down in a heap and rolled around in the street. This was what Xander was hoping the irate woman would do. Wrapping both arms around Jane's body, Xander placed his taser against the back of her neck and activated it. Jane's eyes bugged out and she screamed as indescribable pain blossomed at the base of her brain. Pain so intense that it overwhelmed her mind, rendering her unconscious.   
  
Xander released a scream of his own as he felt currents of electricity pass through Jane's body and into his own but before he could succumb to the pain, the taser was ripped from his hand. A second later Jane was pulled roughly from his grasp.   
  
Focusing above him, Xander realized that it was Jane's brother that pulled her away. He watched as John gently set his sister onto the street and checked her pulse before looking at Xander with eyes full of hate. "You're lucky that my sister is still alive C-36. That means that I won't kill you but you can be sure that I will take a pound of flesh out of you for her pain before I take you back to Mother."   
  
Xander was too weak to reply so he just laid back down on the street. A shadow passed over him as someone stood over him, blocking the light from the street lamp. Xander looked up, expecting to see the big hulk of Jane's brother but was shocked to find Chance standing between him and John.   
  
Then the strangest thing happened. From his position on the ground, Xander felt the ground begin to tremble under Chance as he walked towards the other two. It was as if the man's weight increased with each step that he took.   
  
Xander propped himself up on his elbows, concerned as John punched the other man in the face. Chance didn't even bother to evade or block it, and when John's fist connected, the sound of bones breaking could be clearly heard. Chance didn't move a muscle but John cursed loudly as he cradled his ruined hand.   
  
Then Chance punched John in the chest. To Xander it looked like a light tap but not to John. The force of the blow sent him staggering backwards until he tripped and fell over his sister's body. He scrambled to his feet at stared at Chance and Xander for a minute before scooping his unconscious sister into his arms. "This isn't over." John stated coldly as he walked away.   
  
Xander looked up at Chance. Now that the danger had passed, the adrenaline that was pumping through his system, tapered off letting Xander feel the full extent of his injuries. The pain from his injuries caused Xander to black out.   
  
Chance bent down and lifted Xander off the ground. With little effort, he carried Xander in his arms to the SUV and carefully placed him into the passenger seat. Then he walked around to the driver's side of the vehicle and got in. Glancing at Xander once more, Chance started up the SUV and drove off.   
  
* * *   
  
_Where did all this fog come from?_ Willow wondered as she found herself walking through a foggy landscape. She felt like she has been walking for days in the fog that surrounded her. Aside from physical exhaustion, the only other thing that she felt was a deep feeling of hatred. She couldn't understand why she felt that way but it was there, smoldering beneath the surface. Suddenly a large, rectangular object appeared in front of Willow, forcefully jarring her from her thoughts. Whatever the object was, it was over eight feet tall and twice as long.   
  
As Willow stared at the large shape, the fog began to dissipate. After a few seconds, the redhead realized that the shape was actually a large crypt and that she was standing in a graveyard. Checking her surroundings, Willow quickly recognized where she was and who's crypt she almost bumped into. "This is where Spike lives. How did I get here?"   
  
"Willow?"   
  
The redhead turned around, surprised to find... "Tara!"   
  
The shy blonde nodded her head and smiled slightly. Willow wasted no time in pulling her friend into a crushing hug. "Tara, do you know what's going on?"   
  
Tara pulled back slightly as Willow loosened her grip. "I don't know. I found myself walking though this fog but I can't remember how I got here. Then I heard your voice and then the fog was gone." Tara looked around nervously and asked, "Do you know where we are?"   
  
Willow nodded. "Spike's crypt but I don't know how we got here."   
  
"You don't remember anything, Willow?"   
  
"Not really," Willow replied, pulling away from Tara but still keeping a firm hold on her hand. "All I have is this vague sense of being furious but I can't remember who I was mad at or why."   
  
Tara saw a figure out of the corner of her eye. "Who's that?" Tara asked, pointing behind Willow.   
  
Willow turned and looked in the direction that Tara pointed at. For a second Willow that she saw another girl in the distance but the figure disappeared. "I don't know but she looked to be coming in our direction."   
  
"She?"   
  
Willow turned back to Tara. "I think it was a girl but I'm not positive. We'll know soon though cause I'm pretty sure that she's headed this way."   
  
As if on cue, the figure suddenly reappeared. Willow and Tara were shocked to see that it was Anya.   
  
The sight of ex-deamon brought out the anger that Willow had felt earlier along with ghostly images of what those feelings of hatred were connected to. Willow caught flashes of herself arguing with Buffy, of Xander as he laid on the roof of an old crypt, and finally of Anya crying about Xander. Everything she saw was incomplete which served only to increase the feelings of anger that burned in the young witch.   
  
Willow fought with her anger. Brutally suppressing her emotions until she was calm. Then Willow walled off her emotions in order to understand what was happening to her and Tara and she knew that the answers were right in front of her in the form of Anya.   
  
Anya kept walking towards them but made no sign that she even knew that they were there. She just kept walking and muttering to herself. Just as Anya started to walk past the two wiccas, Willow reached out to grab her by the shoulders but instead her hand passed harmlessly through the girl as if she wasn't even there. Willow looked at Tara as the blonde also passed her hand through Anya. "What's going on here?" Willow asked.   
  
"Maybe she's an illusion. Maybe everything is." Tara stated, stamping her foot on the ground. Willow noticed that when Tara raised her foot back up, the grass where the blonde's feet were was undamaged. Looking down at her own feet, she saw that blades of grass were sticking up, through her shoes. Her anger temporarily forgotten, Willow looked around and noticed that the illusion of Anya was gone. "Tara. Where did Anya go?"   
  
The blonde with blinked at the question then quickly looked around. "I don't know. Maybe, since you said that this crypt belongs to Spike, she went in there."   
  
"It's worth a shot." Willow said, walking closer to Spike's crypt. She reached out to touch door and her hand passed right through it, disappearing inside. Willow paused for a moment before deciding to continue through the door. She was followed by Tara a second later.   
  
Inside both girls watched as the image of Anya berated a shirtless image of Spike. Anya was demanding to know where Xander was. Beyond the two, on the other side of the room stood a second Anya. This Anya was quiet, almost somber as she watched what the scene before her.   
  
Willow somehow knew that this Anya was the real one. Walking through the illusion between them, Willow marched right up to Anya. The look on Anya's face caused a chill to run up Willow's spine. "Anya?"   
  
Anya jerked away from the illusion at the sound of Willow's voice. She immediately backed away from the redhead with fear in her eyes. Willow was confused at the girl's reaction because it looked as if Anya expected her to be mad. She was about to question Anya when the hairs on the back of her neck raised. She could feel a dark magic enter the scene in the illusion. Her instincts told her to pay attention because something important was about to happen.   
  
Confused, all three girls turned back to the scene of Anya and Spike arguing. A low voice could be faintly heard coming from outside the crypt. Then the air inside took on a purple glow for a moment before being absorbed into the image of Anya. Purple light flashed in the girl's eyes before returning to normal. Then the image of Anya looked hungrily at Spike and attacked him.   
  
The sexual act on display caused Willow to remember what had originally brought the three of them to this place. Anya had slept with Spike. That caused Willow to be furious with the ex-daemon. She even attacked her friends to get at Anya.   
  
Willow remembered drawing in an enormous amount energy from all around, to power her magic but before Willow could cast a spell, Tara had grabbed her hand. That physical contact caused the eldritch energies inside Willow to go out of control. The build up of power between the two witches was both amazing and painful. Willow had felt her body strain to contain the energy that threatened to consume her. Then she felt Anya grab her hand and the torrent of magic slowed down. The level of power was still rising but now it was at a more manageable speed.   
  
Willow tried to reestablish control only to find that Anya had somehow been able to take control of magic, lifting the burden of control from the two girl's shoulders. Suddenly there was a surge in power and then she heard a faint voice   
  
"Why!"   
  
The power responded to the voice instantly and Willow watched from within the flow of energy as the magic transformed into a powerful Legend lore spell and centered itself on Anya.   
  
Now everything was starting to make sense to Willow. She knew that the spell that Anya unconsciously formed was used to find hidden or lost knowledge. Anya didn't understand why she had betrayed Xander like that so she used the almost uncontrollable energies that Willow unleashed and cast a spell to find out.   
  
Willow glance at Tara and saw that she remembered everything also. Then Tara's attention shifted from Willow to the crypt's entrance. "There's someone outside." She said quietly.   
  
Both Willow and Anya turned to the door of the crypt. All three girls could feel a very palpable hate coming from the other side of that door. Anya was the first to race outside. Willow and Tara followed and found Anya staring hatefully at a cloaked male figure that was facing the door. "Anya?"   
  
The ex-daemon watched as the robed turned faded from view before turning back to the others. Horror and outrage shown equally on her face as fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. That pained look tugged at Willow's heart, lessening the anger that she had felt for the girl in Xander's life. Willow placed a hand on Anya's shoulder. "Anya, who was that?"   
  
Anya released a shuddering breath. "He is a lower daemon or at least that was the language he used but I do not know who he was." She trailed off as her tears vanished and her face hardened. "I recognized the spell though."   
  
"What was it?" Tara asked.   
  
"A powerful lust spell." Anya's face darkened even more. "And I will kill him slowly for making me hurt Xander."   
  
At the mention of Xander's name, they found themselves back inside the crypt. The pornographic scene seemed to fast forward until it finally slowing down when Xander opened the door. Willow and Tara watched with a solemn Anya as the events played out. They watched as Xander's expression change from heartbreak to apathy as he shoved the ex-daemon away from him. Then after Spike questioned his faithfulness, Xander went about thoroughly manhandling Spike.   
  
Willow was shocked at the sheer brutality that Xander displayed. With the way Buffy said him to be acting after their encounter, this apparent act of betrayal from Anya would definitely change her childhood friend. Willow could only imagine the scope of emotions that must have ran through Xander. She only hoped that when Xander was found, that he wouldn't turn away from her too.   
  
"Now I know why I tried to get Xander to spare Spike." Anya's soft voice distracted Willow from her thoughts. "But the spell only affected me, not Spike." Then Anya straightened up and, with a burning look in her eyes, quietly spoke, "He took advantage of me and he will pay that."   
  
The icy calm in Anya's voice worried Willow but not as much as Xander did. She felt uneasy as she watched everything Xander did to Spike. Especially leaving him with tainted blood. That was cruel   
  
Willow wasn't the only one worried. Tara was shocked. Since meeting Xander, she'd thought he was one of the nicest, most thoughtful persons that she'd ever known, outside of Willow. But to see him act so viciously, even if justified in a way, disturbed her.   
  
"So.." Tara started to say but stopped when Anya looked at her. It took an encouraging look from Willow for her to continue. "It w-w-wasn't Anya's fault."   
  
"No," Willow replied. It was then that Willow realized that her earlier anger had disappeared. Once she learned the truth of about what happened between her and Spike, she found herself feeling more friendly towards Anya.   
  
Then, to Anya's surprise, Willow set a hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look before turning back to Tara. "But that doesn't solve our problems. It only raises more questions like who was the guy and why did he cast the spell. Not to mention if he had anything to do with what happened to Xander."   
  
With that said, they felt a sudden sensation of falling before everything went dark.   
  
* * * 


	8. Chapter Eight

Spoilers: Everything is fair game.

Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.

Note - _thoughts_

Choices We Make

Chapter Eight

"Rupert?"

That soft voice tugged endlessly at Giles' consciousness, shining a glaring light into the soothing darkness that surrounded him.

"Wake up Rupert."

_Wake up?_ Giles slowly did as the voice pleaded. Harsh light greeted him when his eyes first opened. Blinking, Giles found himself propped up against a wall. At his side was a distraught Joyce. Laid out before him on the floor were three young women; Willow, Tara, and Anya. Each girl was holding one of the other's hands, creating a circle.

Giles straightened his glasses. Images of what occurred earlier, slowly drifted to the surface. He took a deep breath, looking once more at the girls' clasped hands. He wondered silently at the implication of that sight. "How are they?"

Joyce looked at the three girls, "They look like they're simply asleep but... I don't know for sure." Joyce exhaled forcefully then turned back to Giles.

"What is going on?"

Giles continued to stare at the girls' joined hands. He had a suspicion what that could mean but without solid information to go on, he would only be guessing. "Joyce, I need for you to tell me exactly," Giles squinted as the start of a headache bloomed behind his eyes. "Exactly what took place after I lost consciousness."

"Okay, umm.. After Willow knocked you out, Tara confronted her and..." Joyce went on to describe how Tara had managed to stopped her. She then told him about how arcs of colored light started jumping between the two of them and then, when Anya took each of their hands, the lights flared brightly only to disappear completely. When her vision cleared, she found the girls lying exactly where they are now.

"I see," Giles said after Joyce had finished.

"Well?" Exasperation filled her voice. "Are they alright? When will they wake up?"

Before Giles could answer her questions, the front door burst inward.

"GILES!"

Both adults were stunned at the sight of Riley staggering into the room with a bloody Buffy in his arms. Joyce was the first to shake off her shock and went to Riley's side immediately, helping him to carry her daughter in. As they did this, Giles cleared an area off the couch for Buffy.

"What happened?" Giles asked.

"Who did this to my daughter!" Joyce demanded.

Riley first threw Giles a flat look before giving Joyce a more compassionate one. It was to her question that he answered, "Xander."

Shock and disbelief were shared by Giles and Joyce as they stared at the soldier. Still cradled in Riley's arms, Buffy squirmed slightly, her eyes began moving erratically under her eyelids as if in a dream.

Or a nightmare.

* * *

"Xander?" Buffy called out as she wandered through the graveyard. "Xander!"

Silence.

"Where are you Xander," she grumbled.

Buffy felt like she had spent eternity in that cemetery, searching for her friend. She would catching tantalizing glimpses of Xander just before he would disappear again.

"Hey."

Buffy turned around to find.. "Faith!"

"You looking for something B?" Faith asked, casting a look around the cemetery.

Buffy was surprised to see the dark-haired Slayer. Faith somehow looked different to Buffy. The dark makeup that Faith normally wore, was noticeably absent. Faith was also wearing dark blue jeans and a loose, white t-shirt under a small jean jacket.

"Yeah, umm.. Have you seen Xander?"

"Boytoy?" her face changed briefly took on a concerned look before shifting back to an indifferent one. "Yeah, he passed by me a little ways back," Faith pointed behind her. "He definitely looked pissed."

"He did?" Buffy asked, feeling uncomfortable for some reason unknown to her.

"Boy did he ever," Faith stated Then looked at Buffy speculatively. "Did you two have a fight?"

At that question, Buffy experienced brief flashes of images of her and Xander in a heated argument. She suddenly felt burning sensation on her upper arm.

"B?"

Buffy struggled with the flashes and the emotions that they stirred up. "What?"

Faith's eyes narrowed. "I asked if you and the Xandman had a fight."

"I don't know," Buffy whispered, rubbing the area of her arm that felt like it was on fire. "I might have.." Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to understand what she was experiencing.

Faith snorted. "Either you did or you didn't but I gotta ask ya," Faith paused and moved closer to whisper in Buffy's ear. "Are you gonna stick him like a pig too?"

"What!" Buffy exclaimed, turning around to confront the dark Slayer but was taken back at the sight before her. Faith was standing the with a dagger lodged in her gut.

The same dagger that Buffy had stabbed her with when she was trying to save Angel.

Buffy noticed that the front of Faith's white t-shirt and jeans were completely soaked in blood. With a soft groan, Faith slowly pulled the dagger out of her, releasing a fresh flow of blood in the process, and held it out to Buffy.

"If you're going to, you might want this back."

Buffy backed away, shaking.

"C'mon B, take the knife. It's yours as much as it is mine." Faith took a single step forward.

"No!" Buffy backed away from Faith, shaking her head vigorously. When she had put a couple of feet between them, she turned and ran away from Faith.

"B!"

Buffy heard Faith call out to her several times but she kept on running, trying to escape from the nightmare that she was currently living.

* * *

Xander could hear people talking around him as floated in and out of consciousness. He could bare make out two different voices but couldn't understand what was being said. One sounded sad while another was angry.

He was also aware of the pain his body was in. It was the hot, stabbing pains in his sides that had nearly woken him up at times.

Times like this time.

A hot, burning sensation in his side suddenly pierced through his comfortable darkness. This intense feeling of pain tried to force Xander to wake up but before he could, a soothing, numbing coolness blanketed his mind, sending him back into unconsciousness.

* * *

A small group of soldiers entered the underground facility of the Initiative. They were met by a several people from the base's medical staff almost immediately, who then relieved them of two injured persons that they had brought in. They were about to head off to cleaned up when a voice called out sharply.

"Report!"

The Initiative soldiers stood at attention as Maggie Walsh strode towards them. "Ma'am," the team leader spoke. "I regret to report that four of Agent Stevens' team, including Stevens himself, are dead. The two survivors of his team are currently being checked out by the medical staff."

"What about Hostile 17 or Civilian 36, Harris."

The soldier shook his head. "Neither one was on site when we arrived."

"And Agent Tyler?"

"He was also absent."

Walsh became silent for a moment as she considered the situation.

"Doctor Walsh!" An excited, young man walked up to Maggie and handed her a piece of paper. She calmly read the contents and then turned to the group of commandos. "That will be all."

The group stood at attention and saluted before moving off. Walsh waited until they were gone before heading off to the infirmary. Once there, she made her way to a side office and entered. Inside, she found two people; a woman stretched out on a small couch while a man sat next to her.

"What happened John?" Walsh asked as inspected Jane.

John slammed his fist into the wall, startling Walsh. The anger in John's voice was almost palpable as he heatedly described the series of events, starting with following Riley as he received a phone call after which he took off running in the direction of the closest cemetery. Then observing Riley's argument with C-36 and the Slayer, C-36's escape, Riley leaving Agent Tyler alone to bring Buffy here for medical attention, and finally to the sibling's own fight with Harris and a new person called Chance.

Listening intently, a part of her was surprised because in all the time that she had worked with the young man, this was the first time that John had shown this much emotion. Maggie had always been amazed over the amount of control John usually had over his emotions whereas Jane was the wild one.

"And what about Agent Tyler?" Maggie continued to carefully inspect Jane as John spoke. She didn't bother to correct John about his thoughts of Riley bringing Buffy back here for medical treatment, since neither one has yet to make an appearance.

"He was regaining consciousness when we left to go after Harris."

After John finished, and her checkup of Jane was complete, Maggie swore to herself that this would be the last time that she would underestimate Xander Harris.

"I want Harris, Mother," John spoke quietly. "He has to pay for what he did to my sister."

"And he will," Maggie replied. "But right now I want you to get some sleep. You'll be of no use to me, or your sister, if you become too tired to stand up straight."

"But Jane-"

"Do I have to make that an order?"

John stared at the doctor, almost challengingly before looking away with a muttered promised that he would get some sleep. Maggie nodded and left the room. As soon as she closed the office door, Doctor Angleman approached.

"Yes Doctor?" Maggie asked.

"We located a part of the specimen you wanted for Project 314," Angleman said. "Agent Gates has left already to secure the specimen and have it ready to be picked up. If everything goes smoothly, we should have it within the next couple of days."

"Well, some good news at least," Maggie commented scathingly. i At least I can count on Forrest to do his job. /i

"I take it that the search for C-36 and H-17 is not going well?"

"No, in fact the twins came back injured from a confrontation with Harris." Maggie paused. "There is also a new man, by the name of Chance, in town that went toe to toe with John and came out on top."

Angleman's eyebrows shot up in shock over the news. The thought that this 'Chance' could beat their most successful attempt at a genetically enhanced human floored the doctor. "Anyone who could defeat John is worth studying, assuming he's human. When do you expect to capture him."

"Capture and study of the HST that Agent Gates is bringing in for Project 314 has priority. This Chance fellow will, unfortunately, have to wait." Maggie walked over to one of the many workstations and brought up a series of security images. "Has the containment area been set up for the specimen being brought in? All security measures are in place?"

"Yes."

"Good," Maggie said. "Oh, when Agent Finn reports in, contact me immediately."

Angleman nodded and left, leaving Maggie to watch the security cameras. Now that she was alone, Maggie wondered where her prized soldier was. "Where are you Riley?"

* * *

Buffy continued to run through graveyard after graveyard. Her only concern was to escape from Faith and that dagger. She stopped briefly next to a large crypt in order to catch her breath.

"Hey Buffy."

Buffy whipped around to find a young girl standing behind her. The girl was slightly shorter than her, with long brown hair. Something in the girl's features looked familiar.

"Where's Xander?" The girl looked around.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked.

The small girl ignored her. "He is still gonna come by tonight, right?"

"Answer me!" Buffy demanded.

The girl's large eyes narrowed as she studied Buffy. "You two didn't fight again, did ya?"

"You guessed it in one, little sis," a different voice spoke up.

Buffy whirled back around and came face to face with a smirking Faith, who grabbed her and slammed her against the crypt wall. Buffy tried to pushed her away but froze in place when she felt a sharp, stinging sensation in her stomach. Looking down she found Faith's dagger sticking out of her gut.

"There, right where it belongs," Faith let go of the handle and stepped back. "Now doesn't that make you feel better?"

Buffy raised her face up to look at Faith. The self-satisfied look on the dark Slayer's face was the last thing she saw before darkness claimed her.

* * *

"How is he doing?"

The soft, feminine voice tugged at Xander's memory. In the darkness of his consciousness, he felt that he should know the person who owned that voice.

"Don't you shrug your shoulders at me, Mister"

_Who is that?_ Xander struggled to wake up. To him, it was like trying to climb out of quicksand. Every time he thought he was about to wake up, he would slide back into the darkness.

"Please calm down," a male voice said gently. "Getting upset won't help him."

_That's it! I'm waking up now!_ Xander threw himself against the unknown barrier that kept him asleep. He focused all the energy he could muster and tried once more to wake up.

"Stop him before he hurts himself!"

Xander could feel himself finally starting to wake up when that numbing, cool feeling came back with a vengeance and sent him cursing back into the realm of unconsciousness.

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Kristi Campler woke up from a dead sleep at the sound of pounding on her dorm door. Looking at her clock, she realized that it was still early, not even six o'clock yet. Her roommate moaned in her sleep for Kristi to answer the door.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kristi ambled over to the door and cracked it open. When she saw her boyfriend standing there, she pulled door completely open. "Hey," she greeted him with a kiss. "what are you doing up this early, Mr. Tyler?" She thought for a moment that, with today being her birthday, she was going to get her present early. The worried look on his face told her otherwise.

"A woman was attacked outside. Can we come in and use your phone?"

"We?" Kristi asked, looking into the hallway. Behind him was a woman cringing against the wall.

"Yeah, she's really scared and I thought that you could help her while we wait for campus security."

Kristi's heart softened. "Of course Marcus."

She turned and smiled encouragingly at the woman. "Please come inside..." she held her hand out to the woman. "everything will be okay."

The woman clasped Kristi's hand and slowly approached the door. When she set one foot into the room, she quickly pushed Kristi up against the wall. The young woman grunted from the impact and then screamed when she got a good look at her attacker.

The formerly timid woman's face was twisted up in a snarl revealing very sharp teeth. The woman's eyes were yellow and flashed in the dim light of the room.

The woman covered Kristi's mouth, smothering her screams. "Shhh. You don't want to wake up the dead, do you?" she asked, then chanted insanely. "Wake the dead. Wake the dead."

_A VAMPIRE!_ Marcus had told her a little about what went on in the night in Sunnydale but had never actually seen one. Now one was in her room and was holding her against the wall. She didn't exactly panic because Marcus was there. He would save her. "Marcus?" Kristi cried out weakly from under the strange woman's hand, looking to her boyfriend for help.

What she received in return, horrified her. Marcus just looked at her emotionlessly for a second before turning away from her and cast a loving look at her attacker. She felt a dead weight settle in stomach, knowing somehow that she would get no help from him. Then she threw a look the sleeping form in the bed on the other side of the room, mentally screaming a desperate plea. _PAM! Wake up!_

Kristi's muffled screams, in addition to the pounding earlier, had indeed woken up her sleeping room mate. Pamela Sorenson had sat up in her bed to find her room mate's boyfriend, Marcus, in their room along with a strange looking woman that was holding Kristi against the wall. Getting out of bed, Pamela moved to pull the woman from her friend.

"What the hell do... you... think..." Pamela trailed off as the woman locked yellow eyes with her blue ones. She suddenly felt all her will drain away, leaving only the need to obey.

"Sit down my pretty doll," the vampire gently caressed Pamela's face with one hand as she held Kristi in the other. "If you behave, Mommy will let you play too."

Pamela then turned around and bounced, gleefully, back to her bed like a young child. There she sat with a huge smile, staring adoringly at the woman.

Kristi's spirit finally crumbled under the weight of what was happening. Half hearted whimpers escaped her throat, causing the vampire holding her to smile evilly in return. Then she turned to Marcus. "Be a dear boy and close the door."

Marcus woodenly did as he was instructed, then he watched as his Mistress first drained his girlfriend and then her room mate.

* * *

The world of Alexander Harris started to, once again, slowly come into focus. The unrelenting darkness gave way to a soft light as reality intruded on his consciousness. The first thing that Xander noticed were the smells around him. There was a strong smell of perfume or cologne that was giving him a headache. Underneath that was a mixture of softer scents; candles, leather, and wood with an undertone of cleaning chemicals.

Even though he had not opened his eyes yet, Xander knew there were at least two people in the room with him. One was close by from the sound of their breathing while the other, further off in the distance, was making a whisking noise which sounded to Xander like pages in a book being turned.

Xander moaned when he tried to open his eyes. The room was brightly lit and Xander felt as if his eyes were burning.

"He's waking up," a male voice said.

"Xander?"

Turning his head in the direction of that soft voice, Xander squinted his eyes in the effort to discover the voice's owner. A blurred form of a petite woman was gradually coming into focus. "Hi?"

"Hey," The woman lightly ruffled his hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts."

"Here, drink this." She brought a glass of water to his lips.

Xander took a sip and laid back down. Not even a second later, Xander shot up from where he was and looked around wildly, ignoring the fresh bout of pain that erupted behind his eyes. He realized where he was. i Father Michael's office. /i He found himself on the small couch which sat against the wall. In a wooden chair next to the couch, sat... "Kayla!"

"Wow, so he does remember me," Kayla spoke in a light tone.

"What are you doing here?"

Kayla's cheerful expression became fixed as she stared at Xander. "What am I doing here?" Kayla stood up and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Let's see, could it be because I got a call from Michael saying that he was worried about you. That you might be in TROUBLE."

Xander hid the wince that he felt when Kayla said the word 'trouble' in a loud voice. "Kayla I-"

"So I get here as fast as I can," Kayla continued, overriding Xander. "Only to find out that you're wanted for questioning by the cops. Something about an explosion that happened near the college here."

"Now that I can ex-"

"And then," Kayla cut him off once more. "I find out that you're chasing after vampires on your own. You yourself told me, several times I might add, to NEVER take on a vamp by myself, and then I find out that you don't even heed your own advice."

Xander cradled his head with his hands. Despite the pain expanding behind his eyes, he let Kayla vent her anger. Having gotten to know her well enough over the past year, he understood that when Kayla was worried, she tended to get very verbal. She was not shy about expressing her feelings. That's when it hit him.

_She was worried about me._ That thought warmed Xander's heart even though he wanted to pound his head against the wall worrying her at all. That thought led him to his friends. He wondered what Willow and Giles were thinking at that moment. Were they worried about him or did they join Buffy's crusade about bringing him in.

And what about Joyce, whom he thought of as a second mother. What did she think about him fighting with her daughter. i Would she understand or would she... /i Xander couldn't bring himself to finish that thought even though, deep down, he had steeled himself against the possibility that everyone in the group was against him.

"If Chance hadn't been there-"

"Wait a minute," Xander interrupted, breaking free from his dark thoughts long enough to recognize that name. "Chance?"

"Yes Chance," Kayla rolled her eyes. "You know, the friend I've been trying for the past month to get you to come to San Fran to meet," Kayla pointed at the desk. Sitting behind it, Chance looked up from the paper he was reading and nodded to him.

Xander had to turn his upper body halfway around to see the man and that's when it hit him. His ribs didn't hurt. Aside from a massive headache, Xander felt okay. Face screwed up in concentration. He tentatively stretched his body in more directions, searching for the signs of the injuries he was sure that he had. When he was done, he looked at Kayla. "How come I don't hurt?"

Kayla's eyes softened briefly, "You can thank Chance for that too. He healed you."

"He healed me?" Xander asked, taking off his shirt. He quickly looked at his chest and found a long, thin scar. The scar started at his left shoulder and stretched down across his chest and ending at his right hip.

"Yeah, that one wouldn't heal completely," Kayla said with a frown. "I don't know why but at least Chance was able to fix everything else."

"How?"

Chance snapped his fingers, getting Xander's attention and pulled a large, golden medallion from inside his shirt.

"What's that?"

Xander tried to get up for a closer look but was pushed back down onto the couch. "No. No more questions from you, buster!" Kayla crossed her arms in front of her, giving Xander her best glare. "Not until you tell me why you were chasing after that vampire, all by yourself."

Xander leaned back against the couch. "Look, I was out for a walk when I came across him," he started, giving her a half-truth. "He had just hurt, or killed, several people. Somebody had to stop him," he finished with a shrug.

"And you decided to take it upon yourself to do that," Kayla stated. "Without your friends."

"My friends," Xander snorted and soon became lost in his thoughts.

"Uhh.. Hello," Kayla waved her hand in Xander's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was there something you wanted?" he asked blandly.

"How about an answer. Like, why weren't you with you friends or that girlfriend you told me about."

Xander's face darkened. "I'm no longer seeing Anya. As for my friends, I've only seen one of them in the last couple of days and that meeting didn't end well." He paused in thought for a second before adding in a dead voice. "At least not for her."

"Xander-" Kayla started, wanting to know what had happened to change the normally jovial Xander she knew into this grim version sitting in front of her.

"Forget about it," Xander stopped her. He was tired from his dealings with Anya, Buffy, and Spike. What he needed was a morale boost, and if there was one thing that Kayla was very good at, it was her ability to make him laugh. With a fake smile, he pointed at Chance. "Why don't you formally introduce me to your friend."

Kayla studied her friend. Xander was starting to look more like himself so she decided to let Xander off the hook for now. She walked around the large desk and stopped at Chance's side.

"Chance, this is Xander who I consider to be my favorite, if adoptive, little brother." She stifled the urge to laugh at the look of outrage on Xander's face at the mention of him being her 'little brother'. She remembered how bent out of shape Xander got when she first called him that. She even heard him mumble something about always being one of the girls. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Kayla continued. "Xander, this is Chance, my boyfriend."

Xander's eyebrows shot up. "He's your boyfriend?" he asked and then focused on Chance. "You're her boyfriend?"

Chance looked up at the young woman standing beside him and smiled. He looked back at Xander and nodded.

"Please tell me that you lost some kind of bet cause I can't honestly believe that any man would willing go out with the She-devil here." Xander pointed at Kayla with a grin.

"What!" Kayla shrieked.

* * *

Father Michael was among the pews of his church, talking to a woman and her child when a loud scream erupted from within his office. Not a second later, the door burst open and Xander sprinted from the room, followed closely by Kayla.

Both were running around like a pair of children. They weaved in and out of people that were standing around. Most of them just stayed where they were and watched the two of them. Several of the younger children that were there with their parents, tried to join in the chaos created by Xander and Kayla but were firmly held back.

Michael shook his head in exasperation as he heard Xander taunting Kayla as they ran. _A pair of children is right._

The priest watched as Xander made the mistake of looking over his shoulder at Kayla at the worst possible moment. Without Xander realizing it, Chance was able to step directly in his path, causing Michael to wince in sympathy as Xander collided with the silent, young man.

Chance didn't budge.

Xander though, had bounced off of Chance and fell to the floor, landing hard on his butt. Kayla wasted no time in pushing Xander onto his stomach. She then straddled his waist and pulled both of his arms behind him. "Take it back!"

"No!"

"Take back what you said, or else."

"Or else what?"

"Ohhh Chaaaance," Kayla sang out in a high voice, an evil grin plastered on her face. "Please be a dear and hold his arms up so I can remind him just who the Tickle Champion is."

"NO!" Xander tried his best to dislodge the girl from her position on his back but was too late and soon start squirming when Kayla ran her fingertip along his lower ribs. "STOP THAT!"

Kayla paused, "Do you give up?"

"Get off me," was Xander's reply.

"Wrong answer."

This continued for more than five minutes as everyone watched and laughed. Soon Kayla had Xander pleading for her to stop the torture. Claiming that if she stopped that he would do anything for her and that is exactly what she wanted to hear.

Kayla sat up, resting comfortably on Xander's torso. She placed her hands on her hips and stared down at her helpless victim. "Then tell Chance what you obviously meant to say."

"Fine." Xander pouted. Then he turned his attention to the man standing above him. "Congratulations Chance. Kayla is a great catch."

"Thank you," Kayla chirped as Chance nodded to Xander. Then she got off Xander, letting Chance pull him to his feet.

"If your fishing in a toxic waste dump," Xander muttered under his breath.

"What!"

"Nothing." Xander said, smiling innocently.

Kayla's frosty stare sent shivers running through Xander. When her upper lip twitched into the beginnings of a snarl, Xander knew he was desperately in need of help. "Michael!"

The older man in question chuckled lightly.

"I'm so glad to see that you're feeling better, Xander."

Xander quickly maneuvered around Michael so that the priest was directly between him and Kayla. Then He playfully stuck his tongue out in Kayla's direction before turning his attention back to Michael. "You know me Father, takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'."

Michael simply watched him with twinkling eyes. He wanted to laugh out loud and roll on the ground at their antics but then he would never get any answers from Xander. "Now my boy, what is this about the police wanting to question you about an explosion on the college campus?"

Xander studied the older man for a couple of seconds before sighing. "It's not something for you to worry about, besides, I seriously doubt that the police will do anything about it."

"Why not?" Kayla wanted to know.

Before Xander could answer her, a voice called out from the church entrance. "I might be able to help you with that, Mr. Harris."

All four turned and watched as a man, looking to be in his mid twenties, strode up to Xander. He was dressed in a business suit and exuded a sense of confidence.

Kayla stepped, protectively, in front of Xander. "Who are you?"

The man smirked at Kayla, then turned his attention back to Xander.

"My name is Lindsey McDonald," the man said, holding his hand out for Xander to shake. "I work for Wolfram and Hart."

* * *

Spike was quickly becoming irate. He had been following this little man for the better part of an hour, going from one place to another until finally, they materialize in a long hallway, littered with young people. He recognized the place as being one of the dormitories on the college campus.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because She is here," the small replied, motioning to the door next to them.

_She?_ With a confused expression, Spike took a step closer and pushed it open. Inside, he saw a man that looked familiar, standing in one corner. Before he could take a closer look at the man, his attention was drawn to the bed closest to the door. On it lay two young women. Both of them sporting single bite marks on their necks that were still leaking blood.

Spike licked his lips at the sight and smell of the exposed blood. Human blood.

"Awwww. Is my little boy hungry?"

Spike spun around and beheld his Dark Goddess, "Dru!"

The vampiress in question giggled and waved at Spike from where she was reclining on the second bed in the room.

"Miss Edith was telling me that you missed me," Drusilla adopted a look of pure innocence while dragging a finger down the front of her low cut dress. "Did you?"

Spike growled and launched himself at her.

Outside the room, in the hallway, all the people that were moving around in the early morning hours stopped and stared at that door as squeals and high pitched laughter could be heard from with.


	9. Chapter Nine

  
Spoilers: Everything is fair game   
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.   
Note - _thoughts_   
  


Choices We Make  
  
Chapter Nine

  
  
Walsh!"   
  
Maggie Walsh turned from her workstation as a tech ran up to her. "What is it?"   
  
"Ma'am, you might want to check the surveillance of the Stevenson house," the tech explained as he almost ran back to his station.   
  
Maggie followed the tech and waited. The video showed two female room mates, each soundly asleep in their beds, She was momentarily startled when the sound of pounding erupted from the speakers. One girl got up and let two people into her room. What followed made Maggie's blood boil. Not only did a vampire kill the two students living there, but the vampire did it without raising any alarms. She was about to raise bloody murder when the tech signaled her.   
  
"Wait Ma'am, there's more."   
  
"First you tell me that we have two dead girls that WE didn't even KNOW about and now you're saying that there's more?" Maggie asked in an angry tone.   
  
The tech swallowed audibly. "Yes Ma'am. If you would continue to watch the footage."   
  
Maggie tsked impatiently as the tech started the video back up. the first thing she noticed was that there was a man in the room but she couldn't see him clearly. "Stop. Start it back from the beginning." The tech did so and after a few seconds, Maggie had him stop it. "Can we hear what she's saying?"   
  
"No I'm afraid that she's talking too low. All we get are a few words here and there but that's it. Our surveillance capabilities above ground is not up to the standard that we have inside the base itself."   
  
"Damn." Maggie muttered. "Who were the girls living there?"   
  
"Pamela Sorenson and Kristi Campler."   
  
"Kristi Campler. Why is that name familiar?" Maggie asked.   
  
"She is, or should I say was, the girfriend of Agent Marcus Tyler." the tech replied.   
  
Maggie leaned closer to the screen, trying to make out the man in the room. "What about the video? Can it be enhanced enough to identify the man standing by the door?"   
  
"Fraid not Ma'am. The image degrades far too much to be able to map any recognizable features."   
  
"Damn." she said again. She didn't like this. First Agent Tyler disappears and now his girlfriend and her roommate are killed right under her nose by an unknown hostile. "Have a team -"   
  
"Ma'am," the tech interrupted. "I just called up the real-time feed. Just a few minutes ago, two new men had entered the room."   
  
Maggie turned her attention back to the screen. The tech rewound the video and the started it up again with one of the men walking into the center of the camera's field of vision, looking around the room. Maggie hissed upon recognizing the 'man'. "Hostile 17."   
  


::::  


  
Drusilla hummed quietly to herself as she ran a hand through Spike's hair as the pair laid lazily on the dorm bed. Two men stood woodenly by the door while on the second bed in the room supported the bodies of two dead young women. Suddenly Drusilla squealed in laughter.   
  
"What is it, Ducks," Spike drawled.   
  
"Ooooh, Miss Edith said that the mean mommy finally knows that we're here."   
  
Spike sat up and stared questioningly at his dark sire. "Mean mommy?"   
  
Drusilla focused on Spike. "The mean mommy that hurt you. That leashed you like a little puppy." Her face took on a glazed look. "A puppy with it's skin peeled off, playing in a box full of salt." Then her eyes became lucid and took on a flinty look. "Of course after the way you hurt Daddy, you deserve to be treated like a puppy."   
  
"Now Dru-"   
  
"But I will forgive you this time if you get me a kitten." Drusilla interrupted him.   
  
Spike smiled widely. "I'll get you a whole litter if you want."   
  
Drusilla's face took on a dreamy quality as she got off the bed. "Oh I want just one with dark hair and soulful eyes, then you can be my puppy and he'll be my kitten."   
  
Spike gave her a strange look as he got up and followed her around the room. Drusilla went to the man that brought Spike here, bent over and whispered in Ray's ear, then called the other human over to stand next to her. "Where are we going pet?"   
  
The vampiress playfully crooked her finger at him. Spike stepped closer and then they were gone, leaving the room empty except for the two dead girls.   
  
Barely ten seconds later, the door exploded inwards as several figures dressed in dark clothing rushed inside. One of the men stepped forward, surveying the room.   
  
"Bag and tag, people. Move." He motioned for his men to start the clean up as he pulled out his radio to report back. "Mize to base. We lost them."   
  


::::  


  
Maggie Walsh's face was a stone mask as she listened to the soldier's report. From the computer station, she had watched the entire scene from the time the group disappeared in a puff of smoke to when her people had broke down the door.   
  
Every tech near that communications station held their breath, waiting for the expected explosive response from Maggie. Instead, she simply turned off the video feed and left without a word.   
  


::::  


  
"Well?" The lawyer from Wolfram and Hart asked as he waited impatiently for Xander's reply. Lindsey never did feel entirely comfortable being inside a church.   
  
Xander stared at the hand offered to him and something deep down inside said that accepting that hand would be like trying to grab a snake, you will only get yourself bit.   
  
"Listen, thanks for the offer but no thanks," Xander finally replied, taking half a step back. "I don't believe that I'll be needing your help."   
  
Lindsey's smile fell slightly. "If you believe so but my firm knows the truth of the circumstances surrounding your current situation and has already taken steps to exonerate you."   
  
"Why would they do this?" Kayla spoke up from Xander's side.   
  
"Because," Lindsey favored her with a condescending smile, then turned back to Xander. "we would like to ask you to do a favor for us."   
  
Xander was becoming curious, despite his better judgement. "What kind of favor?"   
  
Lindsey set his briefcase on the back of one of the pews and opened it. From inside, he withdrew a large envelope and handed it, face down, over to Xander.   
  
"We would like you to safeguard this and then deliver it when the time is right."   
  
"Who is this for?" Xander asked.   
  
Lindsey motioned for Xander to turn the large envelope over. Curious, Xander flipped the package over and read the name. His semi-interested look fell, revealing a shocked one.   
  
"We are aware that you have recently come across some information that will let you know when you can expect to be able to deliver it," the lawyer added before turning to leave.   
  
"What exactly did your firm do to clear me?" Xander asked warily, ignoring the envelope in his hands for the moment.   
  
Lindsey smiled urbanely. "One of my colleagues has presented evidence to the local authorities about a certain individual matching the physical description that was given to the police. Plus the location of certain misappropriated weapons that will be found in his place of residence."   
  
At the apprehensive look on Xander's face, Lindsey decided it was time to leave. He didn't even bother to try to get the boy to promise about delivering the envelope. Everything they had on file about Mr. Harris pointed out that once he knew the identity of the package's owner, he would do basically what they asked just to find out if the person was a threat to the people that he considered family. Anything else would not work on the young man given both his strong moral compass and his possible semi-unique status.   
  
Xander felt slightly nauseous as he watched the lawyer calmly walk to the church entrance. _They've set someone up to take the fall but who?_   
  
Just before the lawyer could step across the threshold of the building, Xander called out, "Wait a minute! Who's the guy that your people set up for the police?"   
  
Lindsey paused momentarily, as if to answer but then continued out the door in silence.   
  
Xander sprinted out the door also to catch up with the lawyer but found no trace of him. Like the man had vanished into thin air. He quickly went down to the sidewalk and looked down both sides of the street, trying to see if there were any cars heading away from the church but there were none.   
  
He looked once more at the package in his hand and marched back into the church. Michael and Kayla watched in concern while Chase was impassive at best, as Xander walked past them with a blank expression on his face and into the Michael's office, closing the door behind him.   
  


::::  


  
In the home of Rupert Giles, Three people, one carrying a fourth, stared at each other as they stood near the front door. The two older people, Giles and Joyce, stared in shock at at the third, Riley, as the commando held the Slayer protectively in his arms.   
  
"Who did you say did this?" Giles asked, desperately needing to believe that he had heard wrong.   
  
"Xander." Riley repeated, his voice seeming to echo in the silent room.   
  
Riley didn't bother to wait for either of the two adults to speak up again. He deftly maneuvered around them and entered the room only to find that Willow and two other girls were asleep on the floor. He carefully stepped over the girls and gently laid Buffy on the couch.   
  
"Why do you think that Xander did this?" Joyce softly asked, coming up behind the young man.   
  
Giles could hear the fear lacing her words. Fear of Xander being what everyone was saying about him. He was worried too. If Xander has changed sides, that could spell serious trouble for the group because he knew that the boy would potentially be more dangerous than even Angelus. The only thing that helped him to keep calm was the obvious nature of some of Buffy's injuries, which lead him to believe that they were not caused by Xander. _Even when he was possessed by the spirit of the Hyena, Buffy continued to best him time and again. No, the wound on her neck at the very least was the work of a vampire but that brings up a very important question. Who was the vampire that did this?_ Giles continued to think about it as he half listened to Joyce and Riley.   
  
"Because I found the two of them fighting in one of the graveyards. Plus there were several of my people lying around them, dead. Somehow Harris killed several highly trained soldiers and managed to severely hurt Buffy."   
  
"I find that hard to believe," Joyce retorted, desperately clinging to the hope of Xander's innocence.   
  
"As do I," Giles stated, coming back into the conversation. "I know what Buffy is capable of and no human would be able to do this to a Slayer unaided." Giles carefully moved Buffy's head to the side. "This is clearly a bite mark and unless Xander has suddenly become a vampire, he clearly didn't do this."   
  
The look on Riley's face turned dangerous. "Are you trying to say that I'm lying about this? About my men?"   
  
"No I'm not but did you actually see Xander kill your men," he asked carefully, trying to defuse Riley's anger.   
  
"No," Riley grudgingly admitted.   
  
"Did Buffy or Xander mention any vampires to you?"   
  
**  
FLASHBACK**   
  
"Riley," Buffy looked at him from within Xander's grasp. "Xander didn't do anything to me. It was Spike."   
  
"Spike?"   
  
"She means Hostile 17." Xander shook his head in disgust. " I swear they'll let anyone into the military nowadays."   
  
"Listen Harris-"   
  
"Shut up CUB." Xander said. He pushed Buffy away but kept her between them. "Right now I have a bone to pick with Spike and I don't have the time to play with you."   
  
**PRESENT**   
  
Some of the anger drained from Riley's face. "Buffy said that Hostile 17 hurt her but that's impossible."   
  
"Hostile 17?" Joyce asked, not knowing who Riley was talking about.   
  
"I believe that you know him as Spike?" Riley elaborated. "But that's still not possible, the government chip in his head should have stopped the vampire from hurting Buffy. I still think that Harris had something to do about it."   
  
"Well until Buffy wakes up or we hear from Xander, we don't know what actually occurred between them, right?"   
  
A sudden ringing startled them. Riley pulled out his cell phone and answered it.   
  
While the commando did this, Giles carefully inspected the many wounds on Buffy's body, cleaning them as best he could. When he finished, Giles sat back on his heels, satisfied that the visible injuries were healing nicely and gave her grief-stricken mother a comforting look.   
  
"Don't worry Joyce, Buffy's going to be fine. All she needs right now is plenty of rest and food when she wakes up."   
  
Joyce shot him a grateful look and then took his place next to Buffy. She combed her fingers through Buffy's hair as she whispered words of encouragement to her slumbering daughter. Giles smiled as he watched over them.   
  
"What?!" Riley screamed into his phone, moving away from where Buffy was resting and began pacing across the floor. His action did not go un-noticed by Giles and Joyce who were watching him like a pair of hawks.   
  
"You've got to be kidding me?!"   
  
Riley listened intently to whoever was speaking on the other end then began swearing again.   
  
"I don't care what they say. What about Harris? What does Walsh want to do?"   
  
Joyce exchanged a worried look with Giles, nearly jumping out of her skin when her daughter's boyfriend swore loudly and threw his cell phone, smashing it against the wall.  
  
Giles moved over to the younger man. "What is going on Riley?"   
  
The commando glared in disgust at the remains of his phone before turning to carefully study the man that Buffy loved like a father. He battled internally, weighing whether he could trust him or not. A few tense seconds past before Riley quietly spoke. "I have to leave. Can I trust you to take care of Buffy?"   
  
Giles scoffed, not liking the insinuation. "Of course I'll care for her."   
  
"If I find out that you let Harris near her..."   
  
Giles' expression grew dark as he placed his face inches from Riley's. "You'll what?"   
  
Riley stared back at Giles briefly before turning away. He made his way over to Buffy, brushed a stray hair away from her face and tenderly kissed her forehead before whispering, "I'll get Harris for what he did to you. I swear."   
  
With one more glare at Giles, Riley stalked out the door.   
  
"What now Rupert?" Joyce kneeled down by her daughter, worry marring her beautiful face.   
  
Giles' whole posture slumped as he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm really not-"   
  
A soft moan interrupted Giles and his eyes shifted to the middle of the room where one of the girls had started the slow process of waking up. Shaking her head delicately, Tara tried to sit up, confusion written in her features. A second later she slumped back down on the floor, moaning in pain.   
  
"Tara?"   
  
The girl in question raised her head, eyes squinting. "Giles?"   
  
"Easy now, you've been exposed to a tremendous amount of magical energy." Giles gently pulled the girl up into a sitting position. "What do you remember?"   
  
Tara closed her eyes in concentration. "Everyone was yelling, fighting." Her eyes snapped open. "Willow cast a spell on you."   
  
Giles nodded his head. "Yes she did."   
  
"She tried to curse Anya."   
  
Giles nodded once again.   
  
"I.. I.." Tara's forehead creased in concentration. "I stopped her?"   
  
"Almost," Giles replied and then motion for her to look down to her left.   
  
Tara did as he asked and realized that she still held hands with not only Willow but with Anya too. Quickly she let go of them and rubbed the feeling back into her numb fingers. "How?"   
  
"Well my best guess, from what Joyce was able to describe to me, is that Willow was about to release a powerful spell when you made physical contact with her. This caused the spell to hit you but instead of accomplishing whatever it was designed to do, it flowed through you and back into Willow creating a feedback loop. The magical energy kept moving back and forth between the two of you, becoming more powerful until Anya took each of your hands into hers."   
  
Giles took his glasses off and began cleaning them. "Now I'm not completely certain of what occurred but it sounds like the three of you managed to form a trinity of sorts which allowed the arcane energies to stabilize and be consciously directed."   
  
Tara took this in with an awed expression which changed into a worried one. "If we managed that, w-what happened to the magic? D-did we hurt anybody with it?"   
  
"No you didn't," Joyce spoke up, settling a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The energy flashed between you and then all three of you collapsed."   
  
"W-what about Willow and Anya? Will th-they be okay?"   
  
"As far as I can tell, they are in a deep sleep, much like you were," Giles replied. "But I think that they will be waking up soon now that you regained consciousness."   
  
Tara sighed deeply in relief but a small voice in her mind was yelling at her to remember. But remember what? Something about Xander, about Anya. But what? Tara's mind continued to try to recall as Joyce helped her to her feet. That was when she noticed that Buffy was laying on the couch, injured.   
  
"Oh no!" Tara broke from the elder Summers grasp and stumbled over to Buffy's still form. "What happened?"   
  
Giles took in a deep breath. "Judging from her condition, apparently Buffy had been bested by Spike at one point. There is a bite mark on her neck."   
  
Tara's eyes first started to mist as Giles pointed to the bite on Buffy's neck, then they opened wide at the mention of Spike. That rang a bell in her memory. _Something about Spike. About Xander. And Anya. But what?_ Then it hit her.   
  
"Anya was under a spell!"   
  
Joyce looked at her in confusion. "What?"   
  
"Anya slept with Spike because of a spell," she said.   
  
"How do you know this?" Giles scrutinized her over the rims of his glasses.   
  
Tara shrank from his intense stare but was saved from answering when a new voice spoke up.   
  
"We saw it in a vision," Willow softly spoke as she struggled to sit up.   
  
Tara rushed to Willow's side and gently brushed her hair out of her face. "Are you okay?"   
  
Willow rested her head on Tara's shoulder. "Yeah, I think so." Then she shifted her head slightly to look up at Giles with a pained expression. "I'm so sorry, Giles. Did I hurt you?"   
  
Giles smiled tiredly. "I believe that I shall be fine."   
  
The pain in her eyes and the sincere apology soothed a part of him that was unconsciously worried about the level of power that Willow had displayed earlier. He hoped that maybe this would be the catalyst that would cause her to rethink how she used her magic and how closely they are tied to her emotions.   
  
"Well I'm not fine," a different voice spoke, tartly.   
  
All turned to Anya who sat up stiffly, thunderclouds gathering in her eyes. She quickly stood up, showing none of the weakness that Willow and Tara felt upon waking and strode purposefully to one of Giles' weapon chests.   
  
"Are you feeling alright, Anya?" Giles asked cautiously.   
  
"Yes," Anya replied succinctly, pulling dagger after sword after mace until she stopped and held a short-handled weapon that sported a very large, very sharp ax head. She looked appraising at it and then headed for the door.   
  
"Where do you think you are going with that?"   
  
"That should be obvious even to you," she spoke scathingly to the ex-Watcher. "I'm going to find that loathsome magician that made me have sex with Spike and cut off both of his heads. Then I'm going to take them to Xander and tell him what really happened." With that said, Anya marched out the door.   
  
"Oh great," Giles muttered as he ran after the ex-daemon.   
  
After the door slammed shut, Willow share concerned looks with both Tara and Joyce. Then she finally realized just who was laying on the couch. "Buffy!"   
  
Willow quickly moved over to the blonde, her eyes efficiently tabulating the injuries on Buffy's body. Looking up at Joyce, Willow asked, "What happened?"   
  
The elder Summers stared at the open door that Giles and Anya disappeared through and sighed. Then she sat down on the arm of the couch, gently combing her fingers through her daughter's hair as she tried to calmly tell what they had learned from Riley.   
  


::::  


  
Xander sat quietly behind the desk in Father Michael's office. He stared at the large envelope in his hands as his mind dealt with a whirlwind of thoughts and fears that assaulted him. Many of them centering on what had happened the night he was captured by the Initiative.   
  
**FLASHBACK**   
  
He walked into Willy's Bar, looking to see if owner had heard of any new info on the local vampire population. Making his way over to the bar, he overheard two daemons he'd never seen before, talking. Ignoring them for the moment, he crept up behind Willy.   
  
"Hey Willy,"   
  
"Harris," the bar owner literally jumped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"   
  
"Just came by to see if you'd heard anything interesting lately."   
  
"Who me?" Willy answered, glancing nervously around at his non-human customers.   
  
Xander rolled his eyes at the man's antics. "Everyone knows that you work both sides of the fence."   
  
"Hey," Willy pointed a finger at him. "Between your Slayer and the vampires always roughing me up, it's a wonder that I'm still alive."   
  
A low moan came from a couple of tables away. He looked and found the same two daemons that had caught his eye earlier. "What's with them?"   
  
Willy shot a quick look at them and then shrugged. "I don't know."   
  
"Willy."   
  
"What are you gonna give me?" Willy asked quickly.   
  
"How about peace of mind." At Willy's blank looked, he continued. "If I like what you know, I won't start any fights in here."   
  
"You? Fight in here?" Willy looked a little surprised by his suggestion. "Look kid, any one of these guys could kill you without breaking a sweat so why don't you just go home."   
  
"Nah. I think I'll stay. See what kind of trouble I can get into."   
  
"It's your funeral kid." Willy shrugged.   
  
"Nope. It'll be yours."   
  
"What are you talking about Harris?" Willy asked warily.   
  
"Well you see," He smiled sweetly. "On the off chance that I might happen to die here, say in a fight, I've made sure that my friends will find out that you set me up."   
  
Willy glared at him. "You're bluffing."   
  
He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. One way ot the other, word will get back to Buffy that at the very least, you let me die here. She kills daemons and vampires for a living, so what do you think she'll do to a human that got one of her best friends get killed."   
  
Willy looked around the room for several seconds with a wild look in his eyes. "Fine!" Willy spat. "I think the big guy with the spikes on his shoulders is a Corumish daemon and the smaller, female one with the blue skin is a Delmantri."   
  
"Corumish and Delmantri," he said to himself as he stared at the two for a moment. He could see that the Corumish was a tall, but thin daemon with two deadly looking spikes, one on each shoulder. Those spikes stood out at least a good six inches from his shoulders while his skin was the color of old leather. Whenever the Corumish moved, one could see the powerful muscles that moved under his skin.   
  
The Delmantri was the complete opposite. She looked frail, like you could break her with just a gentle push. Her skin was a rich blue color, like that of a cloudless sky. Her eyes, on the other hand, were jet black and yet he could sense their movement when the daemon's attention would shift around the room, studying the other patrons, one by one.   
  
"Yeah," Willy, not paying him any attention, picked up a rag and began cleaning the top of the bar. Willy steadfastly ignoring the moaning coming from the blue daemon.   
  
"What's wrong with the Delmantri?"   
  
"Hell if I know," Willy replied. "They've been coming here the last couple of nights telling anyone who would listen that some girl that they called the fallen hope is coming, or is already here, waiting for something."   
  
"What's that supposed to-"   
  
The Delmantri shot up from her chair and exclaimed, "Soon, before the ruler of the Were shows her face fully, the fallen hope will awaken from her long sleep and the means of her empowerment will be delivered. Then she, whose path was chosen by powers unknown but blocked by her sibling in Destiny, will face the choice to either follow the path of light or push further into the darkness."   
  
The Delmantri swung her gaze across the room, lingering on him for a long moment before she sat back down into her seat, muttering to herself.   
  
"Oookaaaay. Thanks for the floor show Willy. I'll see ya."   
  
He barely heard Willy mutter about freaky daemons before he left the bar and headed for Giles' place. The Delmantri's proclamation tickled something deep in his memory but no matter how hard he thought about it, he did not know what that was all about but Giles might. _Now I only have to get there without be attacked by SunnyHell's night life,_ he thought, looking at the darkening sky.   
  
"Let's see. On the one hand, I could take the long and safe scenic route though town or I can use the shorter but more dangerous way through the graveyards."   
  
He held both of his hands out like a balance, weighing which way to go. After a minute of thinking, he dropped both hands to his sides. "Aw who am I kidding. Since when do I ever do things the safe and easy way." Then he took off running towards the nearest cemetery.   
  
**PRESENT**   
  
_'Soon, before the Ruler of the Were shows her face fully, the fallen hope will awaken from her long sleep and the means of her empowerment will be delivered.'_   
  
Those words echoed in Xander's mind as he reread the name on the envelope for the hundredth time. Here he was, holding only God knows what for a hope that has fallen in both the physical and the moral sense. What was in the large envelope, he didn't know. He was unable to open it which suggested to him that it had been sealed with magic.   
  
That alone would be cause enough for Xander to be concerned but not as much as the person that the package was addressed to.   
  
"Xander?"   
  
The soft voice startled Xander out of his thoughts. Looking up, he found Kayla and Chance standing on the other side of the desk. Both wore a curious expressions but Xander could tell just from their body language that Kayla was more worried about himself than she was interested in the envelope.   
  
"Who is that for?" Kayla pointed to the envelope in Xander's hands.   
  
"Someone I haven't thought about in a long time." Xander responded, setting the envelope on the desk.   
  
Chase leaned across the desk and read the name on the label, "Who's Faith?"   
  


::::  



	10. Chapter Ten

Spoilers: Everything is fair game  
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.  
Note - _thoughts_

**Choices We Make**

**Chapter Ten**

The calm atmosphere outside of Giles' apartment complex was shattered as Anya burst through the front door, muttering darkly. She had not gotten very far before Giles appeared in the still open doorway. He looked around briefly, spotting the girl and shouted, "ANYA!"

The former Vengeance Demon stopped halfway down the sidewalk at the sound of her name. Turning around, she impatiently waited for Giles to reach her.

"What!" Anya grated out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Giles panted as he jogged up to Anya.

The glare that Anya leveled at him told Giles that he was obviously the most stupid male on the Earth. What she was going to do is find the person responsible for starting this mess between her and Xander. After that person is found, there probably wouldn't be anything left over after she was done. Giles briefly closed his eyes and sighed.

"Please think about what you are doing. You can't honestly be considering.." Giles trailed off at closed off expression on the girl's face. He had seen it before on Xander whenever he tried to get the boy to listen to reason. Giles instinctively knew that Anya would be that same way so he tried a different tactic.

"With what has happened to us in the last forty-eight hours, and especially to you and Xander, we must assume that it's possible that someone is trying to cause dissension within our group. We have to stay together and figure out who or what is behind this. We will just be playing into their plans if we go off half cocked."

"Half cocked?" Anya repeated, her lips twisting into a truly evil smile. "Thank you Giles," she said, kissing his cheek. "That will be the perfect start for the punishment that I had in mind."

Anya's play on his words gave Giles several disturbing images that he immediately shoved out of his mind. Then he tried to grab Anya by her arm, determined to physically drag the girl back into his home if necessary.

"Until we know the identity of the one who cast that spell on you, it's not safe to go charging off like some bloody buffoon, especially when you have no idea where to look."

"I already know where to start," Anya said with a small smile.

"No," Giles stated firmly. "I will not let you risk your life in some foolish attempt to satisfy your need for revenge."

Anya assumed a flinty look. "So you're saying that I will have to go through you to do what I want?"

"Yes," Giles stated stiffly.

"Done," Anya said softly, right before she launched a punch that caught Giles on the side of his jaw.

Giles staggered back a few steps and tried to shake off the effects of the unexpected hit. When he turned back to verbally flay the girl, she was nowhere to be seen. Quickly, Giles ran to the street and looked for Anya only to find that there was no sign of the girl. Muttering under his breath, Giles stalked up to his still open door and walked inside. "Stupid little bint!"

"Where's Anya?" Willow asked. Her face was a mask of worry as she sat on the arm of the couch that Buffy was sleeping on. Giles briefly took note that Willow was gently stroking Buffy's hair.

"I don't know," Giles replied, sighing. He quickly told the others about his altercation with the former Vengeance Daemon. The small amount of relief that sprung up at the evidence that Willow still cared for Buffy was drowned out by the embarassment he felt at letting Anya get away.

"You don't think she'd.." Willow trailed off.

Giles shrugged. "After what the three of you found out, it's very possible."

"What's possible?" asked Joyce.

Giles turned and he studied her for a moment. "Joyce, has anyone told you what Anya was before she came here?"

"No, I never was able to get a complete story from either Buffy or Xander," Joyce shook her head but then, as the wording of Giles' question registered in her mind, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "I'm getting tired of these surprises Rupert. What exactly do you mean by 'what Anya was'?"

* * *

"So, Who's Faith?" 

That seemingly innocent question hung in the air like the proverbial pink elephant as Kayla and Chance waited for an answer. While they waited, Xander stared pensively at the padded envelope in silence. Finally, he slumped back into the chair and with heavy sigh, he looked up at the two of them.

"Kayla, do you remember me telling you about a girl that had tried to kill me?'

"Which one?" Kayla jokingly replied out of habit but the crestfallen look on her friend's face made her want to slap herself. Hard. "Xander, I didn't mean-"

"Forget it," Xander cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Sadly enough, it is a valid question. Umm, I told you about me saving a Slayer using my Uncle Rory's car, right?"

Kayla's brow furrowed. "Yeah, I remember you saying something about a beautiful brunette having her way with you that night," she answered with a knowing leer on her face. That look changed to shock and then horror as the pieces fell into to place. "Wait!" Kayla shot around the desk and knelt next to Xander. "Are you telling me that the girl you were with that night was a Slayer and that she tried to kill you?"

"Not that night exactly, but yeah," Xander shrugged, uncomfortable with the subject. He absently rubbed at the area just below the left shoulder where he could feel the beginnings of the long scar from Riley's attack. Unconsciously, his fingers started to trace the length of the scar through his shirt.

That action did not go unnoticed by Kayla. She remembered seeing that scar shortly after Chance had brought him in. Xander obviously got that before last night and had patched it up pretty good, but it would have needed stitches at some point. Fortunately that was not necessary now thanks to Chance but something about that scar kept it from healing completely. When Chance was done, a thin, but noticeable scar was left behind. As much as Kayla wanted to grill Xander about that scar, right now her anger at this 'Faith' was currently getting the better of her.

"I will kill her!" Kayla spoke vehemently then stood, making a grab for the envelope on the deck. "If she wants this then she can-"

"No," Xander softly spoke, snatching her hand away from the envelope and held it gently, but firmly. He knew telling her about Faith would bring out Kayla's protective streak. After all, to her, he was the little brother that she never had. _Unfortunately, _ Xander thought dryly. _that same streak tends to be her violent one too. _

"Xander," Kayla turned back to him, her dark eyes glittering but not bothering with pulling her hand away. "You told me that Slayers are supposed to be good and now you're telling me that she tried to kill you. We should just forget about that Lawyer and destroy whatever is in that envelope."

"No," Xander said once more, releasing Kayla's hand. "I wont argue with you that what she did was wrong but we all made mistakes where she was concerned. We all had our own little dramas going on and none of us could see that Faith was spiraling out of control. Eventually it came down to a 'Winner Take All' fight between her and Buffy. Faith lost and has been in a coma ever since then."

"Then why?" Kayla asked, pointing at the envelope.

Xander shrugged. "I'm guessing that she's gonna wake up soon."

"You're certain of this?" Chance spoke up.

Xander looked up at Chance. "Not at first. A few of days ago, I ran across a couple of demons that dropped a hint about Faith coming back but I wasn't one hundred percent sure that I believed them. That was, until that lawyer showed up here wanting me to deliver a package to Faith. Now I'd have to say that I'm pretty sure."

"You still haven't told me why," Kayla said.

"Faith wasn't a bad person when she first arrived, Kayla. And I guess that I'm just curious to see if there's a chance that she's willing to come back to the light side of the force," Xander smiled weakly. He fidgeted under Kayla's darkening glare until finally, he crumbled under the pressure and threw his hands into the air. "Truthfully, I don't know why. It's just something that I feel that I have to do."

Kayla stared into her friend's eyes, searching. After what seemed like an eternity, she must have found what she was looking for because she smiled and nodded, accepting Xander's decision. Free from Kayla's searching stare, Xander stood up and picked up the padded envelope.

"It looks like it's time for me to have a little chat with someone."

With that Xander left the office with a confused Kayla and Chance following after him.

"Alexander Harris?"

The trio stopped just outside the office door. Near the church entrance stood two men with a clearly flustered Father Michael.

Xander stepped forward. "Yes?"

"I'm Detective Whitmore and this is Detective Paulsen," the shorter of the two said. "We would like to ask you some questions."

"You have no right coming into this Sanctuary of God and demand anything of my friend," Michael stated.

Xander watched the two Detectives as they calmly explained that they were not here to arrest him. They had been informed by Xander's Lawyer that he was at this location if they needed to ask him any questions. A soft touch on his arm drew Xander's attention to Kayla, whose expression was clouded by worry and suspicion at the mention of this "Lawyer". With a single look, she told him that she did not like the situation but she would back up whatever he said.

"It's alright Father Michael," Xander spoke quietly, placing a comforting hand on the elderly priest's shoulder. Xander then turned to the police officers. "How can I help Detectives?

"Well first off, were you aware of the explosion that happened at the local college a couple nights ago?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "I had heard about that. Do you know what happened?"

"We can't comment about ongoing investigations but can you tell us were you were on that night?"

"I was here," Xander swept his right arm out, indicating that he meant the Church. "helping Father Michael clean out some of the rooms that he uses for storage. It took some time to figure out what was needed and what wasn't."

"And how long were you here?"

"Young Xander worked quite late into the night," Father Michael spoke up. "When that happens, I prefer that he stays the night here at the Church since there's been so much gang activity lately."

The Detectives nodded their heads as one took notes of their answers. The questions continued but Xander was able to field them with minor lies that had the virtue of being partly true. Xander had learned a long time ago that the best lies were simple ones that had, at their core, an element of the truth in them.

Finally the Detectives were satisfied with Xander's answers and decided to leave. Detective Morris stopped and asked one last question. "By the way, do you know a Parker Abrams?"

Xander shrugged. "Not very well. He went out on a date with a friend of mine but I've never really had any contact with him. Why? Do you think that he had anything to do about that explosion on the college campus?"

"We're just following any and all possible leads. Thank you for your time Mr. Harris." Detective Morris turned and left.

Everyone stood there and watched as the two Detectives left. Finally Kayla turned to Xander, disbelief etched into her face. "That's it? They ask you a couple of questions and then leave. If this happened back home, they would've hauled your butt down to the police station and played 'Bad cop, Worse cop' with you."

"That's the Sunnydale Police Department," Xander said with a shrug. "The less complicated they can make a case, the better they like it."

"That's just so wrong," Kayla frowned, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Wrong or not," Michael spoke. "Xander benefits from their lax attitude."

"If they were actually on the ball, Xander wouldn't be-"

Xander tuned his friends out as he thought about the events over last couple of days. Even though he apparently did not have to worry about the police, he was still at odds with the local covert military group and most likely, with the Slayer as well. Xander did not automatically assume that the gang would side with the Slayer but he had to be honest with himself, it was a very good possibility.

Looking down at the large envelope that he still held, Xander sighed heavily. If that wasn't enough for him to handle, now there was a suspicious law firm doing him favors and Faith was apparently going to be making an appearance soon. _Oh, how I long for the days where all I had to worry about was being attacked by Vampires, Witches, and Werewolves._

Xander looked over at the others only to find them staring at him. He held up the envelope to Michael. "Father, I was wondering if you would hold onto that for me? There's somewhere I need to go."

"If you want me to," Michael accepted the envelope. "Might I ask where you are going?"

"Like I told Kayla earlier, there's someone that I have to talk to, even though I'm pretty sure that he's not not going to enjoy it."

Michael sighed at Xander's evasive answer but then assumed a pleasant expression. "When we have more time, I feel that we should have a discussion about lying in a House of God."

Xander smirked at the older man. "Why Father? You're just as guilty as me in lying to those Detectives."

"Sorry my son," Michael shook his head. "If you think back to what I said exactly to those gentlemen, you'll find that what I told them was completely true."

Xander opened his mouth to argue but then snapped it shut with an audible click of his teeth as a thoughtful expression came over his face. The look soon turned to disgust as he realized that the old priest was right. Xander narrowed his eyes, giving Michael a piercing look. "Just exactly how did someone like you, who can dance around the truth better than a demon, ever get a plush job like this?"

Michael was about to answer but was cut off by Xander before he could.

"Forget I asked. I don't want to know," Xander spoke, shaking his head in disgust. "Besides, I got to get going."

Kayla marched forward, grabbing Xander's arm as she walked by. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride. See ya Father!" she yelled over her shoulder.

Michael waved at them as they left, followed shortly by Kayla's boyfriend. Then he turned back to speak to the other people in his church, all the while offering prayers up to God that He would watch over his young friends.

* * *

"Anya used to be a demon?" 

Giles gave Joyce a very worried look. That was the third time that the woman had asked that very same question since they had explained to her how Anya had come to be in Sunnydale. It was clear to him that even though the elder Summers was somewhat calm on the outside, she was really struggling inside to understand what she had just learned.

"Xander's dating a demon?"

Now that question caught Giles off guard for some reason. "No. Anya is completely human. She isn't a demon."

"Then why are you worried about where she went?"

Giles sighed. "Because, even though Anya is human, she can be a very dangerous individual. She remembers her life as a Vengeance Daemon and has absolutely no problem with what she had done to men during that time."

"To men?"

"Anya, or rather Anyanka as she was called, was the Patron Saint for Scorned Women. Basically if a man hurt or betrayed a woman, Anya would come to that woman and offer her a wish."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Joyce said.

"Actually it is," Willow spoke up. "Her wishes usually involved punishing the man in some way. The more painful and or humiliating the wish, the more satisfaction Anya got out of it."

"If she was as bad as you say, how on Earth did Xander end up in a relationship with her?"

"If I know Xander," Willow answered. "It probably started out with him feeling sorry for her and tried to help her adjust to being human again after so long. But then she left."

"She left?"

"Yes she did," Giles took over the conversation. "Do you remember graduation? Anya was certain that during the ceremony, the Mayor would successfully complete his transformation into a major Daemon and kill every single person in Sunnydale. After informing us of her experience with a previous Ascension, she quickly left town."

"But she came back?"

"Yes," Willow cut in, from her position next to Buffy sleeping form. "From what Xander told me, she came back mainly because she thought that since he took her to the prom, they were in a relationship."

"But-"

Joyce was interrupted by a soft moaning coming from Buffy. Quickly, she knelt down beside her daughter and whispered encouragements for her to wake up. It was a slow process but Buffy finally did wake up.

"NO!" Buffy shouted. She shot straight up on the couch and frantically searched the front of her blouse, Once she realized that there was nothing wrong, Buffy slumped back onto the couch muttering, "It was only a dream."

"Buffy," Joyce said softly.

"Mom?"

"Yes Honey," Joyce answered, moving closer to her daughter. "I'm right here."

Buffy sat up and looked around blearily, noticing the others in the room. "How did I get here?"

"Riley brought you in." Giles said.

"Riley?" Then Buffy's eyes widened in fear. "Xander!"

"What?" Willow asked.

Buffy looked at her best friend as she tried to stand up. "We need to find him before he gets himself hurt."

"Wait. Slow down." Giles spoke, pushing Buffy back down on the couch. "What do you mean? How will Xander hurt himself?"

"He went after Spike by himself," Buffy struggled to get back up. Getting frustrated, she roughly pushed Giles away, causing the older man to stumble backwards. With no one holding her down now, Buffy lurched to her feet and started for the door.

"Buffy!" Joyce tried to stop her daughter.

Buffy just side-stepped her only to be stopped by Giles, who was standing between her and the open front door. He stood resolutely with his arms crossed before him, determined to stop Buffy. "You are not leaving."

That simple, but firm statement stopped Buffy cold. "Don't you even care that Xander could be hurt or dead right now."

"BUFFY!" Joyce admonished.

"I do care, Buffy," Giles spoke softly. "I care very much for Xander, just like I care for you and Willow. And as much as I want to go out and find Xander, I also have to accept the possibility that it might already be too late."

"Too late?" Buffy asked warily. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh no," Joyce said under her breath.

Giles took off his glasses and pinched the brow of his nose. "You have to realize that you've been unconscious for some time, Buffy. Several hours has passed since Riley first brought you here. In fact-"

"Hours!" Buffy interrupted.

"Yes," Giles answered. "I'm afraid so. Riley came here with you in his arms and told us that Xander had seriously injured you."

"But it wasn't Xander," Buffy half-stated, half-pleaded. A lump formed in her throat at the thought that she failed to protect her friend.

Giles nodded. "That's what I believed, once I was able to see to you wounds. The bite mark on your neck was clearly that of a vampire. The rest of you injuries came from the same vampire or at least a creature that is much stronger than a normal human."

"Why do you say that?" Joyce asked.

"Because of the Slayer's preternatural endurance. The Slayer could take several hits from a normal human without so much as a bruise. It takes a greater strength than that of a human to overcome that particular blessing."

"I don't think that Xander's normal anymore," Buffy said, more to herself than to the others.

"What makes you say that?" Giles questioned.

Buffy looked up, startled our of her thoughts and sighed. "It's like I said before. Something has changed Xander. He was holding his own against Spike, just like he did with Riley. There's no way in hell that he can fight a vampire like Spike as himself."

Everyone was quiet as the idea of an altered, perhaps dangerous Xander settled once more in their minds. Giles placed a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"We will go look for Xander but first, why don't you and Joyce go get you some food while Willow and I…" Giles trailed off as he looked around the room, finding it empty except for three people; himself, Buffy and Joyce. "Where's Willow?"

All three turned and looked at the open front door.

"Oh dear Lord," Giles simply said.

* * *

"Willow! Wait up!" Tara cried out as she followed Willow to the dorm room that the redhead shared with Buffy. 

Willow slowed down once inside the room and headed for an oak chest sitting on a small table in the corner. After lifting the lid, Willow began pulling out a small plastic bag, a short but wide candle and a folded map of Sunnydale.

"What are you doing?" Tara asked, knowing the answer already.

"I need to find Xander," Willow stated, unfolding the map.

"Wait!" Tara shouted, causing Willow to stop. "I d-don't think that we should do this."

"Why not?" Willow demanded. "You heard Buffy. Xander could be hurt or worse. We have to find him before something else happens."

"What about Mr. Giles?" Tara asked. "He won't l-like it if we do another scrying spell."

"No," Willow said firmly. "I need to find Xander first. I need to know that... that..." Willow's hand shook as she lit the candle. Blowing out the match, she opened up the bag and pulled out what looked like a tuft of hair. She held it briefly over the flame until it started to catch fire.

"I-is that Xander's hair?" Tara asked.

"Yep," was all Willow said as she concentrated on the map before her. She held the burning hair over the map, letting the ashes fall gently onto it while chanting softly. Willow continued for several minutes, beseeching the four elements of nature to reveal the location of her lost friend.

Tara watched the ashes begin moving around the map as the magic Willow was invoking tried to locate Xander. A pang of jealousy flared briefly in her over the worry and determination that Willow displayed over the actions of her childhood friend, wondering how she could compete with such a connection.

"He's alive!"

Willow's exclamation snapped Tara out of her brooding long enough to see that last of the ash had piled on top of a small section of the map. She took a closer look and realized that the pile of ash was actually moving, indicating that Xander was indeed alive but he was headed towards the seedier part of town that she had not been to and did not want to visit. As they watched, the pile slowly came to a stop, showing exactly where Xander was.

"Let's go," Willow said with a bright grin that sent Tara's heart a flutter.

Deciding to leave her previous thoughts about Willow's relationship with Xander for later, Tara helped the redhead clean up the room before heading out. Despite her mind shouting that she should stop this now and contact their friends, her heart told her that she can trust Willow. And one of the few things she remembered her mother telling her was to always follow her heart.

The two left the room and started down the hallway. Further down the hallway was a tall, athletic brunette that Willow immediately recognized.

"Hey Ash!"

The girl in question turned around, looking for whoever was calling her name. Then her stern features softened slightly when she saw Willow waving at her. She waited for Willow and the other girl to catch up with her. "Hey Willow, who's your friend?"

"Oh, sorry," Willow apologized and quickly introduced the two. "Ash, this is Tara MacClay. Tara, this is Ashlie Lawton."

"N-nice to meet you," Tara stuttered shyly.

"It's nice to meet you too," Ashlie smiled reassuringly and then turned back to Willow. "Now, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you could do us a little favor."

* * *

In a dark hallway, a large wall mirror silently slid to the side revealing Riley as he exited the elevator that led from the underground complex of the Initiative. He had just spent the last hour in a briefing with Walsh, who was livid about the pressure she was getting from the upper brass about leaving Xander Harris alone. That was what shocked Riley the most. He could not figure out who Harris knew that was high enough in the government to be able to exert that kind of political influence required to pull this kind of trick. 

Riley wondered why, and more importantly how, did Xander manage to convince the local cops that Parker was the one responsible for what is thought to have happened at the campus. He was just as surprised to learn that the cops had found a rocket launcher hidden under Parker's bed. "How the hell did Harris plant that evidence without no one knowing he was here?" Riley quietly asked himself as he threaded his way through the throng of students in his house.

As he passed by an open window, he thought that he saw Buffy out of the corner of his eye. Leaning out the window, he realized that it was Buffy walking up the campus with Giles and her mother, Joyce, in tow. Quickly he headed outside and jogged across the campus to catch up with his girlfriend. He could hear the frustration and worry in Buffy's voice clearly as he approached.

"I don't care, Giles!" Buffy huffed, gesturing wildly. "First something is up with Xander and now Willow takes off on her own."

"She's hardly on her own," Giles said mildly. "Tara's with her."

"So not the point," the blonde stated.

"Buffy!" Riley shouted as he met up with the trio. Buffy turned toward him and gave him a relieved smile. Riley quickly pulled her into his arms, relishing in the knowledge that Buffy was okay. He pulled back slightly, inspecting the side of her neck. He noticed that there were still to puncture holes where the vampire had bit her and the area of skin around the wounds were bright red and puffy.

"Harris will pay for hurting you," Riley swore.

"Hurting me?" Buffy asked, confused. Then she realized what Riley really meant. She pulled away from his embrace and glared at her boyfriend. "I told you before, Xander didn't hurt me. It was Spike."

"That's not what I saw," Riley spat. "Why are you trying to protect him. He had you shoved up against a tree when I got there. Who knows what he would have done if I hadn't stopped him."

"You stopped him?" Buffy asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Riley answered. "If I hadn't shown up, he could've killed you."

Buffy opened her mouth to object but it was quickly covered by a hand much larger than her own. Looking up at the owner of the offending hand, she glared darkly at Giles.

"I am fairly sure that Xander wound not have harmed Buffy in such a way but if you insist on debating this, then may I suggest that we take this indoors and away from prying ears." Giles said, pointing out the various groups of people scattered about the area that were beginning to pay far too much attention to the heated words between Buffy and Riley.

Buffy just snorted and shrugged off Giles' hand. "I don't have time for this," she said, turning around and started once more for her dorm.

"Are you sure that they came here?" Joyce asked, trying to keep up with her daughter.

"What's going on?" Riley asked, recovering from his girlfriend's brush off. "Why are all of you here on campus?"

"We're looking for Willow and Tara," Giles said after a moments hesitation before following the two Summers women.

Riley stayed where he was, watching as the three walked at a fast pace across the campus. Shaking his head, he came to a decision and jogged up to Giles and simply said, "I'm coming with you."

They were walking up to the building that Buffy and Willow lived in when Buffy heard a familiar voice. Stopping where she was, Buffy scanned the nearby area.

"What's wrong, Buffy?" Joyce asked her daughter.

"I thought that I heard Willow," Buffy explained as she continued to look around.

The others started their own visual sweep of the campus with no luck until Riley shouted out, "There!"

Everyone turned to the part of the parking lot that the commando was pointing to. There they saw Willow and Tara getting into a red jeep being driven by another girl. Before they could move, the jeep pulled out and quickly sped off.

Riley turned to Giles and asked, "Is your car close by?"

"Not close enough, I'm afraid," Giles replied.

"Then we'll take a faculty car," Riley said, pointing to a black SUV parked off to the side. "C'mon."

* * *

Inside a non-descript room deep inside the Initiative, a chair flew from one side of the room and shattered against the door. 

CRASH!

The sounds of destruction brought Maggie Walsh flying through the door, where she found the room in shambles and one of her prize projects literally pounding a hole into the concrete wall. With one last mighty blow, John shattered the wall and stumbled into the room next door. Maggie stepped through the large hole and calmly watched as John paced in circles, trembling with barely repressed anger.

"John," Maggie spoke crisply, instantly drawing the large man's attention.

"I'm going to kill him."

The cold anger in his eyes caused Maggie to pause. There was no doubt in her mind as to who John was referring to. Xander Harris. The 'why' was given to her about a half an hour ago in the form of the medical diagnosis of his sister, Jane. Due to the injury sustained in her altercation with Harris, there is a very high probability that Jane would be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life.

Maggie knew that if it were not for all of the enhancements that Jane had went through, a taser to the base of her skull would have turned the young woman into a vegetable if it had not killed her outright.

"John," Maggie started off carefully. "We have the best physicians in the country. I believe that Jane will make a full recovery so-"

"NO!" John cut her off, grabbing Walsh by the front of her lab coat and slammed her against the wall, her head bouncing painfully off it. "I don't care! He hurt my SISTER and Xander Harris WILL die by my hands!"

With that said, John dropped Maggie to the floor and stalked out of the room. After he was gone Maggie stood up and stumbled over to the intercom mounted on the wall next to the door. With a shaky hand, she activated it.

"This is Walsh. Code Five Alert," Maggie spoke as she felt the back of her head. "I repeat, this is a Code Five Alert. Lock the base down and…" Maggie trailed off as she realized that the back of her head felt wet. Bringing her hand back around, she found her hand covered in blood. That was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness.

tbc...


End file.
